


Redemption

by LadyIrina



Series: Corruption and Redemption [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, man smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-09-26 02:10:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9857330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina
Summary: Percival Graves and Credence Barebone left everything and everyone behind and fled to Europe.They are on the run, happily so, but eventually the angry past catches up with them.New allies and enemies, as well as old ones, bring the chance for redemption, but do they want it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to everyone who voiced a wish for a sequel! I apologize in advance for my continued spamming of updates! ;)
> 
> This fic follows the events of Corruption, so if you haven't read it yet; this story might make more sense to you if you did:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/8793700/chapters/20160217

It was a typically dark and rainy evening in London City. In one of its many dark alleys, all that could be heard beyond the sounds of the city itself were the echoes of expensive shoes hitting wet pavement in confident strides.

Despite the knowledge that at least five people were watching him from the shadows, Percival Graves walked like a man without a single concern in the world. 

His dark eyes caught movement as people darted from place to place in the background, but still he walked on, undeterred.

Graves only came to a halt when the person he was looking for actually stepped out into the alley to block his way.

“Mr. Thompson,” Graves greeted, taking in the sight of the shabby man leering at him. “We meet again.”  
Earlier that day he’d had the misfortune of talking to the man at his establishment. It had sealed Thompson’s fate.

“Was hopin’ you might want to donate to the cause, sir,” Thompson drawled with a grin.

How anyone could have thought putting this man in charge of an orphanage was beyond Percival.

“Ah, but I’m hearing that the money stops with you, Mr. Thompson,” Graves tutted. “And that you waste it on gambling and booze.”

There was a flash of metal as the man pulled out a knife and glared in return. “A bloody smart-mouth, you are, eh? We’ll take care of that soon enough.”

Graves heard the man’s henchmen step into the street as well, surrounding him, but all he did was give a little smile. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

Thompson laughed, preening in front of his crew. “You really shouldn’t have come here, mate.”

Percival’s smile widened a little. 

When the man lunged at him with the knife, the darkness around them roared and came to life. Black smoke welled up around Graves while sharp tendrils grabbed a hold of the would-be assailants and flung them against walls and the ground.  
Thompson screamed when he was flung up into the air.

Graves absently ran his fingertips over the black smoke, watching with a neutral expression as the scruffy man was flung into a wall next. He didn’t interfere for a good while, only when the man had stopped screaming did he speak.

“That’s enough.”

The darkness snarled and grumbled reluctantly, but when Graves reached into the black smoke; it melted away to reveal the face of a young man between his hands.

“I said, that’s enough, Credence.”

Black tendrils turned into hands as Credence took a gentle hold of Graves’ arms and the Obscurus curled in on itself to form the rest of his shape until he was standing in front of the other man. 

“Good boy,” Percival purred, allowing him to inch closer and rest his head on Graves’ shoulder. He reached up to place his hand on Credence’s neck. “That’s my good boy.”

Credence smiled.

-

Returning to their suite at the hotel they were staying at, the two removed their coats and Graves brushed off any offensive dust that might have tagged along from that dank alleyway.

“Thank you,” Credence said in a quiet voice. 

Glancing over at him, Percival gave a little nod. While he personally didn’t see the problem if a lowlife like Thompson would suddenly stop existing, Credence had been adamant about not letting the Obscurus kill anyone. He’d come a long way in learning to control it, but when Credence’s emotions were unstable; so was the Obscurus. Graves was his anchor and reluctant conscience.

“So,” Graves began, walking over to him to loosen one of the many magnificent ties he knew Credence hated but wore anyways because he knew it pleased the former Auror, “satisfied?”

Ever since Credence had seen the horrible conditions at the orphanage and the even more horrible way Willard Thompson treated the children there; he’d been tense and restless. Graves knew it brought back old memories and figured it might be a bit therapeutic for him to do something about it.

Credence nodded, sliding his arms around Graves’ waist and hiding his face to his neck.

Percival placed his own hand on Credence’s neck and felt the tension there was gone. “Good.” He smiled a little when he felt Credence deliver a teasing bite to his skin. “Flattered as I am, I got to be dirty after spending time in those smelly alleys.”

“I like you dirty,” Credence murmured softly, his lips still not leaving the tempting skin.

Huffing a laugh, Graves moved his hand up into the glorious black locks and took a light hold of Credence’s hair. “What happened to the shy boy I once knew?” 

“He realized you would never ridicule him,” Credence replied, almost too honest in the playful situation, but he followed it up with a beautiful smile and it made Graves a little less overwhelmed by the weight of the trust placed in him.

To weigh up for the sweetness, he decided to turn to a little pettiness; just because he gave in to Credence’s wishes it didn’t mean he couldn’t be petty about it., Graves moved his hands down to open the younger man’s shirt, slowly, button by button, and shrugged off the return touch.

Judging by the amused glare, Credence realized he was getting his way but on Percival’s terms. That meant being patient, asking nicely and Credence doing what he was told, no matter how much he was trembling with want and impatience.

Graves smiled a little to himself as well, sliding the shirt off the other man and moved to stand behind him. He reached out and let his fingers touch the scarred back, sliding upwards.

When Credence had come back to the room they had in a different country two months ago and revealed he’d gotten a tattoo, Percival had NOT been happy. He did not like the idea of anything but him leaving marks on that delicate skin, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he was thrilled at the sight of the black scorpion up on Credence’s right shoulder blade. 

The Graves family crest was burned forever into Credence’s skin, marking him as Percival’s and he was developing a disturbing fascination with it.

-

Credence closed his eyes at the full-body shiver that followed the sensation of Graves’ mouth on his tattoo. He had to clench his hands into tight fists to be able to keep himself still.

His life had taught him to grab whatever joy he could find, fast and greedily, because it would never last, but Percival Graves would occasionally draw it out and make it last until Credence was a helpless mess of broken pleas and desperation.

Feeling the skilled hands sliding lazy caresses over his body, Credence knew this would be one of those times.

And, yes, by the time the final piece of clothing was removed, he was already desperate and on the verge of begging.

“Bed,” the former Auror ordered softly and Credence was only too happy to obey. He scrambled over to the bed and sat down to watch as the other man approached.

While Credence was bared to his skin, Graves was still fully dressed and it just wasn’t fair that the man looked like sex on legs even while covered from the neck down. The expensive clothes always looked like a second skin on him and while the price-tag on said clothing kept him from doing so; Credence sometimes itched to mess up the perfection with greedy touches.

Halting in front of the tense Credence, the corner of Grave’s mouth tugged at a smug smile. He lifted his hand and undid one cufflink, then the other, before moving on to removing the tie clips and eventually the tie itself. He seemed to have all the time in the world and Credence failed to hold back a semi-tortured whine. It made the smug smile widen.

Credence had heard whispers about women who took their clothes off for money to lewd dancing and even lewder music. There was nothing but dry professionalism in how Graves was removing his clothing, piece by piece, folding them and putting them aside, but his body, his confidence and the way he was radiating authority made Credence see why some would pay to see such an act.

“What do you want, Credence?” Just the man’s voice made the want tighten even more.

Moving over on his stomach, Credence clutched a tight hold on the sheets with sheer impatience and anticipation. He was so wound up now, just by being undressed with light caresses and being denied doing the same to Graves; he needed it hard and fast. He needed to feel it.

“Mmmh,” was the thoughtful sound from behind him and there was a gentle touch to Credence’s hip. “I don’t think so.”

Allowing himself to be turned back over, Credence shook his head at the plain sadistic look on Percival Graves’ face. “Please…” 

But his pleas went unheard like he feared they would and instead Credence had to suffer through every gentle caress and wet kiss that graced his skin. Graves hovered over him, denying him the feeling of his weight or wrapping his legs around him, focusing solely on every weak spot he’d come to learn during their time together and inching Credence’s lust up towards too much.

Even when he finally was granted the glorious feeling of Graves inside him, Credence almost lost it when the man merely kept up his gentle and teasing ways. He was constantly kept on the edge of his completion, needing more but not getting it, and was only distantly aware of the black smoke whirling around them. 

Percival Graves broke him, shattered him, scattered his soul, giving him far too much and far too little at the same time. And, eventually, when he allowed Credence to find his release, he would also hold him close afterwards and carefully piece him back together again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say the past is gone and can never come back, but that isn't always true.  
> There are times when the past comes back to bite you.

The next day they were leaving England, but first they were going to pick up some things at the marked that Credence wanted to donate to the orphanage now that Thompson was gone.

Graves had rolled his eyes a little at the request, but he’d given in with a long suffering sigh.

They were just finishing packing their belongings to have them sent to the ship while they headed for the marked and Credence was in an excellent mood. They had done a good deed by removing Thompson and he was still slightly euphoric from the night before.

At first, Credence had been mortified to find himself wanting Percival Graves in the most sinful way. It was a want that didn’t wane with time, yet he struggled to express in words or action what he longed for. Graves kept telling him to say what he wanted and go for what he wanted, so eventually he did.

The former Auror had no idea what he would unleash, but he wasn’t really complaining and Credence would never ever tire of feeling wanted. 

His proudest and most shocking moment had been in Germany; where, during a big official dinner at some politician’s mansion, he’d slipped off his shoe and moved his foot up between Graves’ legs to tease for a long time while absently drawing light and suggestive fingertips over his own lips. The glare he got was absolutely thrilling!

Never in a million years would he have been able to predict Graves abruptly excusing them, getting up and dragging a suddenly nervous Credence out of the huge hall. He’d been certain he’d crossed the line and was going to get a severe talking to.

Instead, minutes later, he was bent over a desk in some office in the building and had to place Graves’ hand over his mouth to keep himself from making too much, very enthusiastic, noise. The desk cut sharply into his hips, Graves was rough and merciless, gasping an occasional profanity against his neck, and Credence actually came without a single touch to his aching cock. 

Graves had strangled his own cry by biting down hard on Credence’s shoulder and Credence had vehemently refused to allow him to heal the bruise away. He wore it with gleeful pride.

Percival Graves was always in control of himself, so the few times Credence managed to make him lose it… 

“Stop it.” The former Auror’s voice snapped Credence out of his thoughts and he sent the other man a quizzical look.

“I know that look on your face and we don’t have time for another roll in the hay if you want to stop by the marked,” Graves declared, closing his suitcase.

Credence flushed a little. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking…”

“I know what you were thinking,” Graves stated in a low voice. He stepped over, took a light hold of Credence’s chin and gave him a light kiss. “But we don’t have enough time, unfortunately. Otherwise…” He let his eyes roam over him, making Credence tremble, before releasing him and heading back to his suitcase again. “You ready?”

Swallowing hard, Credence had to pull himself together. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

-

The marked was busy, no surprise there, it was a weekend after all.

Percival sighed annoyed, wondering why people insisted on being loud and annoying everywhere they went. 

“I just want to pick up some candy,” Credence declared, eyes bright with the joy of giving back to others in a situation similar to where he’d been.

“Fine,” Graves said, “but be quick about it. We still got to deliver this stuff and not miss the boat. “

“Two minutes,” Credence promised with a smile before darting off into the crowd.

Resigning himself to waiting, Graves scanned the crowd with mild disdain. He would be relieved when they were onboard the boat and away from all this noise. He had spent most of his life in a big city, but these days the noise ground at him the wrong way for some reason.

He distracted himself by going over what they had planned next, which countries to visit and what was worth experiencing there. He had started considering a trip to Egypt, but hadn’t told Credence yet. It was a safe bet that the boy would love the idea. He’d talked about wanting to seeing the pyramids.

Two minutes came and went. Two minutes became three and then four…

Knowing how easily Credence was distracted, Percival waited ten minutes before he went looking.

He was tense, but not worried. This had happened before and he’d found Credence either cooing over a kitten or caught up in a conversation with some nobody.

Glancing around, Graves scouted for the familiar sight of Credence’s frame but came up empty. He wandered among the stalls for a bit, getting really irritated by now, when suddenly something caught his eye.

He walked over and crouched down by the entrance to the marked, picking up what appeared to the No-Majs as a small stick, but Graves instantly recognized it for what it was; Credence’s wand.

Okay, NOW he was officially worried.

Pocketing the wand, he straightened and glanced around for more signs of what had happened but there was nothing.

There was no way Credence would have just dropped his wand by accident. This reeked of an ambush… The MACUSA would never trespass on UK soil, so that meant…

Percival searched the area for a while longer. He asked a couple of No-Majs if they had seen Credence, they confirmed him buying some candy but then nothing, before he headed back to the hotel and informed them that he would not be leaving for an undetermined amount of time.

Back in the hotel room, he sat on the bed, Credence’s wand in his hands, and waited for whomever had taken Credence to make contact. They had left the wand behind as a message to him and he was most eager to reply.

-

One hour later, a letter arrived at the hotel, addressed to Mr. Percival Graves.

It contained an address, nothing else.

With his wand in his right pocket and Credence’s in his left, Percival forced his fury down into the pit of his stomach and grabbed his jacket on the way out.

Predictably the address belonged to an abandoned warehouse and it was located by the riverfront. Desolate and easy to set up a trap for unsuspecting prey.  
Stepping inside the huge building, Graves found it empty except for one single person standing in the middle of the desolate workplace.

“Where is he?” Graves demanded to know, halting a mere meter away from the person.

It was a man in his thirties, with brown hair and narrow grey eyes. He smiled with thin lips and the arrogant confidence with which he held himself didn't match with his skinny body. “Percival Graves, it’s an honor.” He looked like someone who had seen pictures of how to dress well but didn’t have any taste.

“I won’t ask again,” Graves countered, having no interest in chatting with a servant.

“Don’t worry,” the man said, “Credence Barebone is unhurt. I give you my word.”

“Your word mean nothing to me,” Graves glanced around, wondering how many other wizards were hiding in the shadows. “What do you want?”

“My name is Viberus Nadder. I was sent here to negotiate with you.” He seemed unfazed by the glare sent his way. “Despite your treachery, Gellert Grindelwald is willing to give you one last chance to aid the cause.”

Graves frowned. This did not sound good.

“You were given the mission to retrieve an Obscurial so it could be used for the greater good,” Nadder continued. “Instead you chose to keep it to yourself, selfishly hogging the weapon which might bring about the end of the slavery of wizards. It is time that you share that weapon.”

“I hear you talking a lot,” Graves said, “but I’m still not hearing what the hell you want.”

“Capturing the Obscurial was not difficult,” Nadder waved a hand-signal to someone in the shadows, “but as you know… controlling it, that’s a whole different matter.”

The someone in the shadows moved further into the darkness to act upon the order given.

So, at least this meant Credence was indeed alive; if they were hoping to get something from him. Graves gave a little shrug. “Have you tried asking him nicely? I find that works best.”

That was the moment when he saw a flicker of irritation on Nadder’s face and he finally knew the man was not impervious to his verbal barbs.

“Don’t try my patience, Mr. Graves,” Nadder warned. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

“And you will regret provoking us,” Graves retorted calmly, meaning every word.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Everyone has their weak spot. The one thing that, despite your best efforts, will always bring you to your knees, regardless of how strong you are otherwise.”

The loud sound of the rusty backdoor opening echoed through the empty warehouse and three people walked into the building. 

Percival narrowed his eyes and realized he had been wrong. Two were walking freely on either side of the third who shuffled awkwardly along in chains; Credence.  
The young man seemed pretty out of it, swaying on his feet, weighed down by both a magical hold on him and Graves was pretty certain there were enchantments on those chains on his wrists.

The trio came to a halt a small distance behind Nadder. The two guardians were keeping a wary eye on their prisoner, but Credence merely swayed unsteadily on his feet and stared emptily at the floor. Graves could feel himself clenching his jaw so hard it hurt and his fingers itched to reach for his wand.

He should never have let Credence leave his sight for one damn second! This was Percival’s fault! He’d let his guard down and now Credence was paying the price.

They obviously knew of the Obscurus’ strength, considering how doped up and restrained Credence was. They were not going to risk the energy breaking free. It was up to Graves to put things right.

Nadder put on a fake smile. “Are you ready to negotiate now?”

“Talk.” Graves kept his eyes on the fanatic, trying to keep his focus on what needed to be done instead of fretting over what they had done to Credence.

“As you might have heard,” Nadder began, “an American wizard diplomat is currently here in London. There is talks about the two countries uniting against ‘wizarding threats against the world peace’. In simpler terms, they intend to make sure no one opposes the law that keeps our kind under the thumb of the Muggles. Now, if the diplomat were to, say, get himself violently murdered by a crazed Obscurus while on English territory, it would certainly put a damper on that cooperation, wouldn’t you think? Might even cause some discord between the two Ministries.”

Graves shook his head a little. “This is about an assassination?”

“This is about fighting for our own kind,” Nadder declared, now with a touch of anger. “You seemed to understand that, once upon a time.”

“Yeah,” Percival admitted, knowing how he too had fallen for Gellert Grindelwald’s siren call, “but then I realized he was every bit as bad as the rest of them. He doesn’t want freedom for our kind, he wants to sit on a throne. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice a miracle for his ambitions.” He then sighed and shook his head. “Credence won’t kill for you.”

“He will if you ask him,” was the ominous reply.

Graves let his fingers brush by his wand, noting how dozens of wizards stepped out of the darkness around him and slowly let his hand sink back to his side again. He straightened a little. “Then you got a problem. Because I won’t ask that of him.”

Viberus Nadder smiled. “Then I will have to persuade you.”

-

Percival Graves squared his shoulders and eyed Nadder with a calm confidence, raising his eyebrows in a silent challenge. He’d been through a lot in his fighting days, let the man do his worst.

It seemed as if Nadder could read his mind and gave a little nod. The challenge was accepted. He promptly pulled out a wand and spun around to cast the curse towards Credence in a fluent movement. “Crucio!”

The Unforgivable Curse wrapped Credence in a red light and Graves could only stare when the screaming began.

During his career, Percival had come across the Unforgivable Curses only a handful of times and had seen the destruction left behind in their wake. It was things that had given him nightmares and now Credence was being tortured with one of them before his very eyes.  
An instinctive step forward, driven by the need to go over to the boy, was halted by Nadder raising a warning hand.

When the screams finally died down, Graves was struggling to breathe, feeling as if he’d just shared the horrible pain. He was holding on to his calm exterior solely due to his stubborn nature. “I’m going to kill you for that,” he promised, trying in vain to ignore how the dazed Credence was trembling and shaking in his visible and invisible shackles.

Nadder shrugged. “You are welcome to try.” He smiled. “But before that, will you give him the order?”

Percival held his gaze. “No.”

Nadder shrugged again, then turned his wand towards Credence once more. “Crucio!”

The red light engulfed Credence and this time the horrible screams of unspeakable pain broke Graves’ façade. 

“Stop!” He called out, unable to stand it anymore. “Just… stop it! Enough!”

“Then we have an agreement?” Viberus Nadder asked with satisfaction, lowering his wand and letting Credence’s screams die into quiet sobs.

Graves nodded, knowing there were a thousand ways to break an agreement. He’d broken promises before. “Fine. You win. Let him go and we’ll take care of that diplomat of yours. But after this, we’re done, you people leave us alone, that’s the deal.”

The smile on Nadder’s face widened. “Oh, surely you don’t think I’m that stupid?” He stepped closer to Graves. “I know what that boy of yours is capable of. If I was to release him, he would simply kill us all. No, I’m going to need you to take his place while he’s out doing his thing. You’ll be our life insurance. He won’t risk us killing you.”

There was a sinking feeling in Grave’s stomach and it took an effort to keep his face neutral.

“Or would you rather I…?” Nadder began, lifting his wand, but grinned and lowered it again when Graves shook his head. “Then we have a deal?”

There was no way Graves would be able to fight his way out of the warehouse, especially with Credence out of the game and needing protection too. Standing his ground and allowing the Grindelwald-henchman to continue torturing Credence was not an option either. He was backed into a corner.

In the end, Graves decided that what mattered to him was to stop Nadder from inflicting more pain on Credence and getting his partner out of there. “Yeah. You got a deal.”

-

Credence was still shivering and twitching from the mere memory of the pain he’d gone through.

Pain was an old friend of his, a lifelong companion, but Credence had never felt anything hurt this bad before. Even losing the Obscurus had been nothing compared to this.  
His body felt heavy and his head even worse. 

A voice called out his name and he was only distantly aware of the sound of iron hitting the ground as the pressure around his wrists went away. Credence struggled to gather himself and slowly raised his gaze to look in the direction of the voice.  
Where was he? He didn’t recognize his surroundings and had no idea how he’d gotten there. The last thing he remembered…

The marked. He remembered buying candy and how he was about to run back to Graves when a voice had called out for him. A little girl had been standing at the edge of the marked, poorly dressed and with tears in her eyes. He remembered approaching her and then… nothing, until his world had exploded into pain.

His vision slowly focused and Credence felt a flicker of relief when he saw Graves standing there, next to some stranger. Yet the emerging smile on his face died when he saw the former Auror’s expression and the tension in his shoulders.  
Something was terribly wrong.  
That was also when he became aware of how he had two wizards hovering behind him and the pool of chains coiled up in front of him.

“Credence Barebone,” the stranger next to Graves exclaimed cheerfully. “Welcome back!”

Credence didn’t reply, merely kept his eyes on Graves. He felt the Obscurus rising within him.

“My name is Viberus Nadder,” the stranger continued, “and I got a job that needs your special kind of signature!”

Credence was barely listening, his focus was set on the stone-faced Graves. He had no idea what was going on, but every fiber in his being screamed red alert and he welcomed the rising power inside him.  
The second the black smoke flared up around him and Credence’s eyes turned white, the man called Nadder flicked up a threatening wand under Graves’ jawline and dozens of wizards stepped out of the shadows with their wands drawn as well.

Graves gave a slight shake of his head.

The darkness snarled angrily, eager for blood, but Credence forced it down inside him again.

-

“That’s better,” Nadder praised, lowering his wand as well. “I’d much prefer it if we all get along!” He smiled from Graves to Credence and sighed annoyed when he got cold stares in return. “Fine. Let us get on with business then!”

“What do you want?” Credence asked the stranger, but his eyes were still on Graves. He merely stared back at him without giving anything away.

“Mr. Graves here and myself have come to an agreement,” Nadder said, undeterred by the hostile aura. “I will give you a name and you are going to do the right thing for all wizardkind by giving him a most public death.”

Now that startled Credence enough to make him inhale sharply and squint his eyes a little at Graves. Did he seriously mean that Credence was supposed to go along with this? Did he know something that Credence didn’t?  
Nothing. He couldn’t read a single thing from the stony expression. 

“While you’re off doing the good work, Mr. Graves will be staying here and keeping me company,” Nadder placed a deceptively friendly hand on Graves’ shoulder, more a threat than anything else.

Credence felt his throat tighten.  
What was he supposed to do? He was no hired killer! True, he had blood on his hands, but that had never been his intention and to unleash the Obscurus on someone who had never done any harm to him…? But if he didn’t, the man made it damn clear that Graves would pay with his life instead.

“I don’t…” Credence began, lost for words, and shifted his gaze between Nadder and Graves. “I can’t…”

“Sure you can!” Nadder chirped, tightening his grip on Graves’ shoulder. “His name is Herman Myndlie. He’s here on a so-called diplomatic mission from the US. And, remember, the more public his death, the better.”

Credence shook his head numbly, glancing around the building and eyeing the wizards surrounding them. Maybe if he went into full Obscurus-mode he could distract them and give Graves a chance to escape? He knew the odds of himself getting out alive were microscopical, but as long as Percival Graves survived he was okay with that.  
He’d nearly lost him once, Credence refused to go through that again!

“Do what he says,” Graves suddenly spoke up, his voice calm and devoid of feeling.

Surprised, Credence stared at him.

“Go. Make it quick. Don’t stop by your friends. Get it over with.” Graves raised his eyebrows meaningfully. “I’ll be waiting here.”

“You got two days,” Nadder instructed.

Still hesitating, not sure if he’d heard him right and somehow knowing he had, Credence gave a slow and reluctant nod. 

He did not like this, not one bit, but when Percival Graves ordered something; Credence Barebone obeyed. And he just had to trust that Graves knew what he was doing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Credence seeks help from an old friend and someone he's never seen before but heard a lot about offers to join them!

The apartment seemed completely abandoned as Credence quietly tip-toed through it. 

He could hardly believe what he was doing, but Graves’ orders had been clear. It had taken him much longer than he liked to find this apartment and time was not on his side at the moment.  
The Obscurus was restless and antsy inside him, reacting as always to Credence’s emotional state, and it was almost tempting to give into the darkness and let it take care of business. 

Credence stepped into the living room and glanced around. No one there either. He was about to move on when he felt a light tap of a wand to the back of his neck.

“Hold it right there,” a voice ordered. “Who are you and what do you want?”

Once the initial start of fear had settled, Credence gathered his courage and slowly glanced over his shoulder at the one who had snuck up on him. “Hello,” he greeted in a meek voice and saw recognision dawn on his would-be captors face.

Miss Porpentina Goldstein stared wide-eyed at him, not lowering her wand but not casting any spells. “Credence?”

Nodding, he slowly turned to face her. “It’s me.”

Her eyes scanned him with disbelief. “What…?” She cleared her throat and straightened with a firmer grip on her wand. “Why are you here, Credence?” Her voice was sharper now, professional, but her eyes still flickered with uncertainty.

“I need help,” Credence pleaded softly.

Miss Goldstein frowned, lowering her wand again. “My help? Credence, you are a wanted criminal! I have orders to arrest you on sight! You and Mr. Graves both!” She started as she seemed to remember her former boss and glanced around the apartment with a skittish look. “Is he here too?”

“No,” Credence replied. “No, it’s just me.”

Relaxing a little, Miss Goldstein glanced back at him and there was regret in her eyes now. “What happened to you, Credence? You disappeared…”

Unable to meet her kind gaze, Credence moved to stare at the floor instead. He gave a small, awkward shrug. “I’m sorry. I appreciated everything you did for me. I still do.”

“Coming here for help, you got to be pretty desperate,” Miss Goldstein concluded. She stuck her chin out a little. “What’s happened?”

Credence hadn’t known she was over to visit Newt Scamander, but he decided to leave that out, instead he told her about his mission, about Graves being held hostage and that he had no idea what to do. He saw the somber look on her face at the news, knowing she would probably feel a personal responsibility for the safety of the diplomat. “I can’t fight them alone. Not as long as they got him.”

“Maybe I can be of assistance then?” A third voice suddenly said. Credence and Miss Goldstein both spun around to face the man in the doorway.

For a moment Credence thought it was Newt Scamander who had returned home, but quickly realized that this man was slightly taller, broader and with neatly combed hair instead of the wild locks. He appeared as polished as Newt Scamander was whimsical; except for the playful sparkle in his eyes where his younger brother preferred to avoid eye contact all together.

“Theseus Scamander, at your service,” the man introduced himself with a big smile.

-

Credence did not want to leave. Graves had seen it in his eyes, seen the desperation that was about to make him do something stupid and get them both killed. So Graves had ordered him to go.  
He knew his message had been picked up as Credence reluctantly agreed to leave and now he could only hope he reached Newt Scamander in time. How ironic that their savior might be the one man Percival really didn’t want to see again.

Adding insult to injury, Nadder had the audacity to not only chain Percival in the corner of a dusty office below ground to wait for the report on Credence’s mission, he also delivered a hard kick to the side of his knee to make him crumble to the dirty floor.

“There,” Nadder declared cheerfully as Graves gathered himself into a somewhat comfortable sitting position while pointedly ignoring his throbbing knee, “better get comfortable. We got a long wait ahead of us.”

Graves decided to include Nadder into things he would be ignoring.

“I got to admit I was damn excited when I was tasked with this mission!” Nadder droned on. “You’re quite famous, you know. I mean, you were before you decided to join the cause, but then you had the audacity to backstab Mr. Grindelwald too!” He leaned forward a bit, eyes bright with nothing nice. “Tell me, how does it feel to be a spineless backstabber?”

No reply.

“There were several of us who wanted to kill you both for your treachery,” Nadder said, dropping his fake cheerfulness. “But Mr. Grindelwald said you still could be saved.”

Graves stared firmly ahead.

“So superior,” Nadder observed with a touch of contempt now. “You really do think you’re above us, don’t you?”

Graves did not deign to react to that. Of course he was.

“You don’t have your boy to protect you now, Mr. Graves.” Clearly Nadder was getting annoyed with the lack of response.

That was all the incentive Percival needed to keep ignoring him. Besides, he did not need Credence to protect him. He’d taken care of himself throughout most of his life. He wasn’t afraid of pain.

“I also have to confess,” Nadder began, sliding off the desk and walking over to where Graves was sitting, “that I’m hoping your boy fails, that he either can’t do it or messes up somehow.”  
Suddenly Nadder’s fingers grabbed a tight hold of Graves’ hair and yanked his head back to make him look up at him. “I hope your boy fails, because Mr. Grindelwald said I got to punish you if that were the case.”

He couldn’t help it; Graves flinched and felt a jolt of a semi-forgotten memory of fingers gripping his hair while he was kneeling and terrified. Defensive anger soon flooded his system and he glared up at the other man. “He hasn’t failed yet, you dewdropper. And you’re messing up my hair.”

Nadder released him, backing away with his hands up in a mocking resemblance of surrender, but the smile on his face told Graves that he wasn’t going to wait for Credence to fail before the punishment started…

-

“Theseus!” Miss Goldstein exclaimed surprised, smoothly sliding her wand away. “What are you doing here?”

Newt Scamander’s older brother shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Newt sent me, with his apologies, to inform you that he will be running a tad late… And by a tad, I mean, hours, possibly longer.”

“What is it this time?” Miss Goldstein sighed with experienced forbearing. “Niffler? Dragons? Centaurs?”

“It’s a hippogriff,” Theseus replied, slightly sheepish on his brother’s behalf. 

Miss Goldstein huffed, but she didn’t seem all that surprised over it. She then suddenly seemed to remember Credence’s presence and waved a hand in his general direction. “Oh! This, uhm, this is a friend. He came to visit. Suddenly. His name is…”  
“Credence Barebone!” Theseus Scamander finished for her, walking over and offering his hand. “Charmed!”

Credence glanced briefly over at the wide-eyed Miss Goldstein before he slowly reached out and shook hands with the man. A brother of Newt Scamander couldn’t be bad, could he?

“What is this about fighting and people being held hostage then?” Theseus inquired pleasantly before holding up a finger. “I did not mean to eavesdrop, I swear, merely asking about what I heard as I walked in!”

Credence felt his eyes narrow and he tensed up a little. “Why should I trust you?”

“Credence!” Miss Goldstein exclaimed surprised.

“No, it’s perfectly fine,” Theseus lifted a calming hand towards her. “Mr. Graves has taught him well. One shouldn’t trust perfect strangers, Tina. Especially not when you are a fugitive.” He gave yet another smile. “You can trust me, Credence, because we want the same thing; Gellert Grindelwald locked away. I was put on his case last year, but the chap has been underground since he made a grab for you in New York. If he has reappeared here in London, I need to know. Fair enough?”

Credence stared at him for a little longer, feeling the Obscurus sliding restlessly through his veins, but there was no instinctive dislike so he eventually gave a nod. “Fair enough, Mr. Scamander.”

“Splendid!” Theseus clapped his hands together eagerly. “First of all, call me Theseus. Then you can tell me all about your jolly little adventure here today!”

Glancing over at Miss Goldstein, needing to know she wouldn’t drag him off to prison the second he turned his back, Credence was relieved to see her give a small nod as well.  
So he told them everything he knew.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation; Save Percival Graves.

The relief he had felt by them agreeing to help was soon replaced by annoyed impatience as Theseus kept asking Credence silly questions!  
Who cared how many entrance doors there were or how many windows there were? What mattered was; how many wizards were there, the name of the horrible man who held Graves captive and that they should be on their way there right now!

“Viberus Nadder, was the name, yes?” Theseus asked.

“Yes!” Credence snapped. “I’ve told you! We need to hurry. Please!” He barely felt the calming touch of Miss Goldstein’s hand on his shoulder.

Theseus nodded with an apologetic smile. “I understand how you feel, Credence, but it’s very important that we don’t rush into this. We need to know the lay-out of the place so we can avoid any ambushes, they may have used concealing magic, and we also need decide on the best place to enter so we can retrieve Mr. Graves without any of us dying, because I don’t think these chaps are joking around. Alright?”

Credence managed a tense nod.  
Miss Goldstein gave him an encouraging smile as well.

“Right,” Theseus said. “This Nadder-fellow doesn’t ring a bell with me, which is kind of odd, considering I’ve memorized every single one of Grindelwald’s compatriots. I would like to pop over to a friend of mine. He might know something.”

Before Credence could object, Theseus winked. “I’ll be right back!” And he was gone in a moment of disapparating.

Shocked, Credence stared at the empty space where the man had been before turning his attention to Miss Goldstein. “He expects me to sit here and do nothing?”

Miss Goldstein squeezed his shoulder lightly. “Theseus knows what he’s doing. You can trust him, Credence.” She eyed him with mild curiosity. “You and Mr. Graves, huh?”

Credence flushed and cleared his throat. “We… I just…”

“I always thought it was sad that he didn’t have anyone,” Miss Goldstein revealed with a wistful look. “He was the only one who spent more hours on his work than me. I had Queenie, but Mr. Graves didn’t have anyone. Maybe that’s why he betrayed us…”

Instantly flooded with the urge to defend Graves, Credence shook his head a little. “He merely did what he thought was right after years of watching how little the laws did to protect wizards from No-Majs. Once he realized Mr. Grindelwald couldn’t be trusted, he saved me from him and has kept me safe since. And that is including from the MACUSA, who wanted me dead for simply existing.” 

Miss Goldstein raised a dry eyebrow and gave a little nod. “Well, he’s most certainly convinced you.” She studied Credence from head to toe. “And the… Obscurus? You still…?”

Credence nodded. “He’s been teaching me how to control it.”

“And has he been teaching you spells and charms?”

“Of course,” Credence replied defensively. “I’m no squib.”

Miss Goldstein flinched slightly at the harsh word, but she quickly gathered herself again. “Sounds like you have picked up some of his personal opinions too…”

“Could we just… focus on getting him back first?” Credence said, frustrated. “Then you can ask him yourself.”

-

An awkward silence followed before Miss Goldstein broke it.

“He was my hero too, you know,” she admitted quietly. “I always looked up to him. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Graves, the President would have fired me after the incident with your mother. Because of him I was ‘just’ demoted and… and he would sometimes come by to see how I was doing.”

Credence blinked surprised. Graves had never mentioned that. 

“That…” He began, “That sounds like something he would do.” It brought a faint smile to his face, a very welcome thing after what he’d been through that day. So typical Percival Graves. He cared, he just didn’t want anyone to know. Heaven forbid anyone learned he actually had a heart!

“How have you been, Credence? Really?” She asked.

“Good,” Credence replied honestly. “It’s all been good.”

“Well, you look good,” Miss Goldstein smiled. She then drew a deep breath and placed her hands on her hips. “Lord knows how long Theseus will be gone. Queenie would have my hide if I didn’t offer you some kind of food.”

Credence tried to decline, not really hungry or in the mood for eating, but she ignored him and found some pastries along with some lemonade. When he tried to decline again, she pointed out the fact that he would need his strength and who knew when they would have the chance to eat again.

Giving in, Credence nibbled a bit on a piece of pastry, not as good as the ones from New York, but he kept glancing towards the door as if Graves would come walking through it at any moment.  
He wondered how he was doing, if they were hurting him and hoped there was no doubt in his mind that Credence would get him out of there!

“Right!” Fifty seven minutes later a cheerful voice made both Credence and Miss Goldstein jump.

Theseus Scamander had apparated nearby and waved some papers at them. “Dug up some interesting facts on our new friend; Mr. Nadder!”

“What?” Credence was already on his feet and even more impatient.

Huffing a laugh, Theseus kept waving the papers like they were some trophy while he walked over to steal a pastry with his free hand. “No bloody wonder I didn’t recognize the name! Viberius Nadder’s real name is Gromph Linnaeus.” He shoved the pastry into his mouth and shrugged. “His family isn’t big fans of Grindelwald, so I’m guessing he decided to create a new name for himself. He has a history of being a bit of a shit and getting into trouble. Looks like he has quite the mean streak, to be honest.”

Credence felt a tense pull at his stomach. “So why aren’t we heading for the warehouse to stop him?”

Theseus pulled his wand out. “Ready when you are, Credence.”

-

Relieved, Credence felt the Obscurus swirl eagerly inside him. “I’m ready.”

Miss Goldstein got up as well. “I’m ready too.”

That made the older Scamander brother send her a nervous look. “Tina, erm, maybe you shouldn’t…?”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “And why is that?”

“It’s just,” Theseus began, taking an anxious step back, “I’m not entirely sure how my brother will appreciate me dragging his fiancé off on a dangerous mission while he’s not here.”

Credence blinked surprised and finally noticed the ring on her finger. Oh!

Miss Goldstein took a step after Theseus. “One, Newt does not decide what I do or don’t do. Two, I’m a battle experienced Auror, I can take care of myself. Three, don’t make me turn you into a beetle.”

“I’ll just leave a note for Newt then!” Theseus declared with a shaky laugh.  
Quickly jotting down some words for his brother, the older Scamander then turned to face the others. “Off we pop!”

It took a while to find the right building amidst the myriad of similar houses by the river. Eventually the three of them were outside the warehouse where Credence had been forced to leave Graves behind. It was now barely visible in the darkness that had fallen.

Tense with fear and impatience, Credence confirmed Theseus’ question whether it was the right building or not.

“Marvelous!” Theseus chirped quietly after they had did quite a bit of scouting around the building itself. “Now, may I suggest we conjure up a plan of attack instead of barging in and getting all of us, Graves included, killed?”

Credence and Miss Goldstein both glared at him.

“Right,” the older Scamander brother cleared his throat and pointed their attention to the building. “I’ve spotted at least three guards on the second floor. Someone needs to take them out, quietly. There’s also two wizards by the main entrance. It doesn’t look like they have used any magic on the warehouse, but according to the blueprint of the building, which I got from my friend, there’s also a basement in this place. They might be hiding everything from magical creatures, a minor army or Graves down there. Be careful, yeah?”

He paused before looking over at Credence. “We don’t know who or how many there are inside. Do you think you can handle it?”

Credence nodded.

“Remember, stealth is your friend,” Theseus admonished. “Once they know we’re here, Graves is in danger. Try to keep hidden until you, or we, find him. Understood? We will take out the guards and join you as soon as we can.”

Credence nodded again.

“And be careful,” Miss Goldstein ordered. “The both of you.” She pulled out her wand and seemed to ready herself for what was about to happen.

Credence managed a faint but grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said with sincerity. “Both of you.”

“Let’s get Percy back, eh?” Theseus winked cheekily and disapparated.

-

Closing his eyes and letting the Obscurus rise to the surface, Credence let himself sink back into the darkness.

In the past it had felt like he was thrown into a lake of the darkest ink and being unable to swim. Now it felt like becoming cold air and endlessly powerful. There were times when his mind would get muddled, things either seemed extremely simple or too complicated, but those were the times when Percival Graves would pull him back.  
This time Credence was on his own.

He slid towards the warehouse, watching through the restless black smoke, and only absently noted Miss Goldstein taking out a guard in the second floor before he slid inside the building thanks to a shattered window.

Inside it was as desolate as he vaguely remembered.

The Obscurus kept to the shadows, sliding along to search further inside the warehouse. There were a couple of wizards, but they didn’t seem to notice him so he let them be. He was looking for Graves.

Finally he found the door which lead down to the basement.

Graves had to be there. The others would have let him know if they’d found Graves and Credence had found no sign of the man on the ground floor; he had to be down in the basement. The only trouble was the two wizards guarding it. There was no way Credence could sneak in there.

Fine, if sneaking was no option, then the Obscurus would show them what happened to people who got between Credence and Percival Graves.

Out of the shadows, the black mass came roaring towards the slouching guards and they did not have time to scream before they were tossed aside. The door was shattered as the Obscurus slammed through it and rushed down the stairs to the basement.

Theseus and Miss Goldstein apparated seconds later, with Miss Goldstein knocking out the one wizard who groggily tried to get back up on his feet, and then they followed him down the stairs.

The entire basement was covered by the massive Obscurus, swirling in circles and screaming with rage. Theseus’ jaw dropped and he stared wide-eyed, realizing that what he’d heard about this thing had not been exaggerated, but rather toned down!

Miss Goldstein stepped forward. “Credence!”

The Obscurus screamed again, shattering something in the room and electricity sparked dangerously inside it. Theseus eyed it somewhat nervously and with no small amount of fascination.

“Credence, stop it!” Miss Goldstein pleaded.

Finally her voice reached inside the mayhem and the darkness slowly dwindled down to form Credence’s shape amidst the shattered and empty room. He looked over at them with tears in his eyes. “He’s not here!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation Save Percival Graves, take II!

“Maybe there is some place we didn’t look?” Miss Goldstein suggested meekly, but she didn’t look like she believed her own words either.

Credence shook his head, lifting his hands to clutch at his own hair in despair. “He’s not here! Oh God, he’s gone. He’s gone and it’s my fault! I should never have left him here! He only came here because they had me!”

He didn’t notice the black smoke starting to radiate from him again or how debris began to tremble at the magic leaking from him.

His hands dropped to his side, clenching and unclenching with the need to do something. Anything! If he just tore the city apart, building by building, he would find him, right? What if he was too late?

Dust was starting to drizzle from the ceiling as the room shook from the growing despair inside him.  
“They’re going to kill him and it’s my fault!” 

“Credence, listen to me!” Theseus called out to him, moving over and placing his hands on the trembling shoulders. “Listen!”

“They are going to kill him!” Credence screamed.

“No, they’re not!” Scamander yelled back. He then flinched slightly before finding his voice again. “They are not going to kill him, Credence, do you know why? Because without him they won’t have you! They won’t risk losing you! So calm down, okay? I need you to calm down!”

Gulping down air, struggling with his hazed mind, Credence still managed to see the logic in the words and he eventually gave a little nod.

“Excellent,” Theseus’ smile seemed a little forced for once. “You couldn’t be a dear and stop stabbing me then?”

Credence realized with a start that there were black spikes sticking out from his shoulders and through Theseus’ hands.  
“Oh, God, I’m sorry!” He dragged the Obscurus fully inside himself and Scamander hissed softly as his impaled hands were freed. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright,” Theseus assured him, backing up a step to let the pale Miss Goldstein heal his bleeding hands. “I’ve had worse. Don’t worry about it.” 

“What do we do now?” Miss Goldstein asked quietly.

“Now we head back to my friend,” Theseus replied. He got a smug look. “I just so happened to notice in my thorough background check on this Nadder-fellow that his family owned a former workhouse. A building that is now abandoned and would make for a fantastic place to hide a former Director of the MACUSA!”

Hope flared up inside Credence again. “So we’re not giving up!”

Theseus confirmed; “We’re most definitely not giving up!”

-

First they had to return to Theseus’ friend, an older man who jumped at the sight of the three suddenly apparating in the middle of his library, but he was very helpful and quickly started digging through the papers to find the address of the former workhouse.

It took longer than Credence liked, it had already been too many hours since he’d left Graves behind in the hands of that horrible man, but finally they got it and Theseus took a hold of both him and Miss Goldstein to apparate them to the location.

This building was a rather small and inconspicuous brickhouse, half hidden among the bigger ones on each side of it.

“Now this is more like it!” Theseus stated gleefully as he peered around the corner of the building that he, Credence and Miss Goldstein were currently hiding behind. “Look at all these people! They just got to be hiding something top notch in there! It’s got to be either Percival or the biggest load of moonshine I’ve ever had the fortune to come across!”

Credence realized he hadn’t learned his lesson from the previous disappointment because his heart was racing with hope. “I can punch through them.”

Miss Goldstein snorted, clearly not used to the new Credence, but Theseus shook his head.  
“I think we should adapt same strategy as last time,” he said. “We don’t want to give them time to use him against us.”

“We can act as a distraction and Credence can sneak inside?” Miss Goldstein suggested.

Credence nodded. “I can do it.”

Theseus considered it and got a mischievous look. “Right. I got the perfect distraction for them!”

The distraction turned out to be a huge dragon Patronus. The spell drew all the attention on the west-side of the building, while Miss Goldstein approached from the east and started wailing about having lost her puppy there. 

The wizards who were supposed to be guarding the building were soon busy trying to discover why there had appeared a dragon as well as dealing with some crazy Muggle screaming about her dog and Credence slipped into the darkness.  
Inside there were more wizards, but they were mostly caught up in looking out the windows and speculating about what was going on outside rather than paying attention to what just entered the building.

Keeping to the dark corners, the Obscurus made its way further into the building. 

First Credence snuck up to the next floor, found nothing there, went back to ground floor and did a swipe there without results as well, before he found yet another basement door.

There were no guards this time, probably having abandoned their posts to look out the windows as well, so Credence manifested a hand to carefully open it and slide inside.

The darkness made its way, ever so quietly, down the stairs and there, chained in a corner on the floor, sat a crumpled and dirty Percival Graves.  
Instantly turning back to his human form, Credence rushed over. “Are you okay? Percival, I’m back!”

Graves lifted his head, thumping it back against the wall and sent him a tired and dry look. “Took you long enough.”

-

“I’m sorry!” Credence began to undo the chains, feeling the enchantments on them fight against him for a moment before they broke. “I’m so sorry!”

Graves merely grunted something, letting Credence take a hold of his arm and drag him to his feet. “Just get me out of here…”

Credence wrapped his arm over his shoulders, noting the blood on the once white shirt and the closed-off look on Grave’s face. “Yeah, let’s…” He hoisted him slightly as Graves’ legs nearly gave in, but refrained from commenting on it. “We should leave before they realize it is a distraction.”

“Distraction?” Graves asked almost absently.

Credence sent him a quick smile. “Yeah. How else do you think I got in here? The others are waiting outside.” He hugged him a little closer. “Let’s go.”

He apparated to the place where he’d split up with Theseus and Miss Goldstein, feeling guilt tugging even harder at him as the simple magic made Graves almost buckle to his knees again, only kept up by his arm around Credence’s shoulders and Credence’s hand against his chest.  
“I’m really sorry,” Credence whispered, eyes filling with tears. “I tried to hurry, I just…”

“Is he okay?” Miss Goldstein appeared next to them.

Graves frowned confused. “Tina…?” She gave him a shy little smile.

“Long time, no see!” A second voice declared next. “I guess it takes a war for you to visit?”

Now Graves straightened and the confusion did not lessen. “Theseus?”

Credence reluctantly let go as Graves withdrew and pushed himself free. He knew Theseus?

“What are you doing here?” Graves asked, shaking hands with the grinning man. “I didn’t know you were in London?”

“I’m not, officially,” Theseus admitted with the easy confidence which existed between two who had fought next to each other in a war. “I had to make a quick visit to Newt. Heard he had gotten engaged and simply had to see the woman capable of capturing my brother’s attention.”

That made Graves glance over at Miss Goldstein again and he smiled a little at her flustered expression. “Engaged? To Newt Scamander? I never would have guessed it, Tina. Congratulations.”

Struggling to meet his eyes, Miss Goldstein mumbled a modest thanks.

“Let’s get you to safety, Percy!” Theseus shot in, clearly seeing how Graves was having trouble just standing up. “We can catch up at Newt’s place!”

Moments later, Newt Scamander opened the door to his apartment. “Tina, I’m so sorry! There was this emergency and I…” He froze at the sight of the motionless Credence and Theseus in the middle of helping Graves sit down on the sofa and the wide-eyed Tina next to them. Blinking, he slowly closed the door behind himself. “Right… Okay… Care to fill me in on what is going on?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Credence feels guilty and Graves doesn't want to talk about it...

Credence left the explaining to Theseus and kept his gaze on Graves.

He was grateful for the help, but right now he was just aching to be alone with him. The blood on Graves’ shirt and the defensive look on his face told Credence that his stay at the hands of Nadder had not been a pleasant one.  
The guilt he felt for not reaching Graves sooner was agonizing.

Once Newt had caught up on the events, Theseus sent Graves an apologetic look. “Now, you know I can’t just let you leave, right?”

Graves gave a weary nod before rubbing his eyes. “Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere.”

Not until Credence got his hands on Nadder, Credence thought with a vicious stab of anger. The Obscurus stirred inside him, much like a shark reacting to blood in the water. He had to focus to soothe the energy back to sleep.

“I will bring them to my apartment,” Theseus told his brother. “They can stay in my spare room while I have a chat with the Ministry of Magic.”

Credence glanced over at Graves, searching his face for how he felt about that development, if he was fine with it, but his flat expression showed nothing of what was going on inside his mind.

Miss Goldstein gave Credence a quick hug, whispering for him to be careful and contact her if he needed anything and that she would see him again soon. He didn’t bother to hide his gratitude when he thanked her. Newt stuttered something, sending anxious glances towards Graves.  
After that, Theseus disapparated himself, Credence and Graves to his apartment.

Once there, he showed them to a comfortable spare room and told them to get some rest. It would be a long day tomorrow and Credence realized it had somehow become in the middle of the night.

He waited until Theseus wished them a good night and left before he began inching closer to Graves. “Percival…?”

Sighing, the former Auror slowly removed his jacket with movements that told of some kind of injury. “Don’t, Credence. I just want to get some damn sleep.”

Guilt once again flooded Credence and he wrung his hands anxiously. “Do you need…? Can I help?”

Graves put his jacket on a chair and began on his shirt. “I’m fine.”

That was the first night they shared a bed and Percival Graves slept with his back dismissively towards him. Credence barely slept at all, lost in the guilt of how he had failed his partner completely.

How was he ever going to make this up to him?

Was it even possible?

-

When morning came and Credence finally nodded off, he woke up to find himself alone in the room.

He jumped out of bed, panicking, got dressed in a hurry and was rushing to find Theseus when he heard Graves’ voice.

Heart pounding in his chest, Credence carefully peered into what he suspected was an office and found Percival Graves and Theseus Scamander talking over some world map. It didn’t take long before Credence pieced together that they were talking about Grindelwald and Graves was sharing what he had picked up about his organization during his and Credence’s travels.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty!” Theseus suddenly exclaimed and Credence jumped like a guilty child.

He carefully moved into the room, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt and keeping his head low. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep so long…”

“Don’t worry about it!” Theseus dismissed with his usual cheerfulness. “Me and Percy here are just old insomniacs! It’s not even that late!” He waved a hand at the map. “We have just been going over old Grindle-boy’s known locations and where he’s been spotted during these last months. But enough work! We got to feed that lad of yours, Graves!”

Feeling anything but hungry, Credence gave a little shrug. “It’s okay. You don’t have to go to any trouble…” His voice died at the touch of Graves’ hand to his neck.

“You should eat,” Graves stated quietly, giving his neck a light squeeze.

Relief flooded Credence at the touch and he nodded eagerly, only to moments later mourn its absence when Graves withdrew and followed Theseus out of the room. Credence hurried to follow as well.

Credence at his breakfast in silence while Graves declined everything on the table. He watched as the former Auror spoke with Theseus, noted how his movements were a little smoother now, but he still wasn’t his usual elegant self yet.

He spent most of the morning as a background shadow while the other two discussed Theseus’ hunt for Grindelwald. It was only when Theseus left for his meeting with the Ministry and Credence saw the tension in Graves’ shoulder that he couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

Slinking closer to where the former Auror was sitting in the living room, Credence crouched down next to him. “Hey, are you okay…?”

Graves didn’t answer at first, then he sighed and glanced down at him. “You really have no idea what is going to happen, do you?”

Swallowing hard, Credence hated when he was so stupid he couldn’t put the pieces together, but he had to shake his head.

“We’re wanted for murder and for breaking probably about two digit amounts of wizarding laws, Credence.” Graves held his eyes with his no-nonsense stare. “They aren’t going to let us go. They are going to ask that we come to them and then… they will execute us.”

-

Credence started and stared at Graves with disbelief. “But… can they just do that?”

“Of course,” Graves replied with a dry smile. “We did all the time. As long as they break the law, they could be sentenced. And we’ve broken multiple laws, Credence. And you…” He sighed and reached out to draw a finger along Credence’s jawline. “They already think you are far too dangerous to be left alive…”

Feeling an odd mix of both anger and fear, Credence shook his head. “I won’t let them.”

Graves pulled his hand away and looked over to where Theseus had been. “I guess we just have to pray that Theseus can pull off a miracle of sorts. He might be our only hope now.”

Credence reached out and grasped a tight hold of Graves’ hand. “I won’t let them!”

That made Graves huff a ghost of laugh and he sent Credence a look of mild amusement. “Are you going to take on the entire British Ministry of Magic, Credence? I think my day with Nadder was more than enough excitement for me, thank you very much.” He got up and let his fingertips brush by Credence’s hair as he walked by him. “You should practice your defensive spells until Theseus returns.”

Devastated, Credence could only stare after him as Graves went back to the office with Theseus’ maps and notes. He got up, feeling the Obscurus swirl restlessly inside him and found some comfort in it.  
He wasn’t weak and helpless anymore. Nadder and the Ministry of Magic would soon learn the power of the Obscurial Credence! He would cower no longer, he would accept their judgment no longer and he would show mercy no longer!

He had to prove to Percival Graves what he was capable of and he would protect them both!

When Theseus returned to the apartment, pale and defeated, he announced that the Ministry had insisted on Graves and Credence appearing before them within the week. Credence’s eyes narrowed and the Obscurus snarled inside him.

That night, the second night they shared a bed and Graves kept his back towards him, Credence let his hand hover near the warm skin and made a silent vow that no one would ever hurt Percival Graves again as long as Credence Barebone was alive.

He never heard the sleeping spell that was cast and was deep within its power when Graves got out of bed. The former Auror got dressed and cast a final look at the unmoving Credence before he disapparated to appear outside a house two blocks away from Theseus’ apartment.

Heading inside, he went straight for the basement door and opened it to walk down the stairs. The light from the open door shone down into the dark room and landed on a lone shape chained up down there.

The real Percival Graves lifted his head and saw a copy of himself walk down the stairs towards him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percival Graves and his bad-mannered visitors...

“I thought I would stop by and see how you were doing,” the imposter said, coming to a halt in front of him and frowned a little with disgust at the sight. “You don’t look so good, Graves.”

Percival managed a faint and bitter smile despite the cut in his lip. “Tell that to your charming subordinate.” He knew he was a bruised bloody mess with dirty clothes and disheveled hair.

It was so wrong to see his own face cut an apologetic expression as the imposter kneeled down in front of him. “He does tend to get a bit carried away, but it is so rare to find a pure psychopath these days. I love how they always think they are more clever than everybody else! Makes them easy to manipulate.”

“All for the greater good, no matter the cost or the means, right, Gellert?” Graves made no attempt to hide the contempt in his voice. 

“It’s not that long ago when you agreed with that statement,” his own voice replied, but they were no doubt Gellert Grindelwald’s words.

Percival closed his eyes briefly, fighting against a wave of nausea that ran through him, compliments of the abuse his body had been through in that basement. “That was before I realized what kind of man you really are. You tricked me, I don’t like to admit it, but you did. I thought you really wanted to fight for wizardkind, but you just want to be king.”

Grindlewald tutted and gave him his own smile. “Don’t be such a sore loser, Percival. If your boy only had done what he was told…”

That brought a burst of anger inside Graves’ chest and he scoffed. “Don’t give me that. You had them bring me here the second Credence left. This was always your plan. The assassination was just an excuse.”

“It would have been win-win either way! Now I get to wipe out quite a bit of the Ministry! If he had killed the guy, I would’ve simply sent him out on another one and then another one.” Grindelwald waved a finger at him. “But ending up in Theseus Scamander’s apartment was an extra bonus!” He laughed a little at the surprised look on Graves. “Yes, your old war-buddy is here. He was anointed as the official Grindelwald hunter last year and now he’s given me full access to all his papers on me!”

“They will realize you are not me.”

“Possibly,” Grindelwald agreed, “But not until it is too late.” His grin widened. “Especially for your boy.”

Percival clenched his jaw, trying his damndest to show no obvious reaction to the taunt. He didn’t allow himself to think about Credence unknowingly in the hands of Grindelwald. It would destroy him if he did and he still intended to get out of his prison, somehow.

“He feels awfully guilty for leaving me, that is you, behind with Nadder. He is trying so hard to make up for it. In so many interesting ways.” 

Graves had to turn away, unable to stand seeing his own face grinning back at him after those words.

“Aww, do you miss him that much?” Grindelwald took a hold of Percival’s chin and pulled him back to place a harsh kiss on his lips; forcing him to endure it for several seconds before he let the former Auror tear himself loose. “There. Can you taste him, Percival? He is so very sweet!”

Panting, Graves glared at him with murder in his eyes. No words could do justice to the hatred he felt at that moment. He could barely breathe, suffocating on his fury.

The fake Percival Graves laughed before he walked back up the stairs and closed the door behind him to let complete darkness fill the basement again.

Only then did the real Percival Graves let out a scream of rage and despair.

-

When Credence woke up alone, he wasn’t surprised anymore. He merely got up and started his morning rituals and tried to ignore the tense knot in his stomach.

Finding Graves in the company of Theseus Scamander, discussing wizarding laws and how to best present their case to the Ministry, didn’t surprise him either.

Credence merely hunched his shoulders and sought refuge in the living room where he’d found some books about famous wizards through time. He turned the pages, reading occasional stories where the wizards did some grand deeds, but he was having trouble concentrating.

The highlight of the day was when Newt and Miss Goldstein came to visit. While he was at ease with his brother, if a little too aware of Theseus’ grand reputation, Newt most definitely preferred Credence’s company to Mr. Graves’ presence.  
Miss Goldstein instantly took an interest in the books Credence was reading and shared the titles of some she recommended as well. She even offered to help him train his magic!

“It might be better if you could learn to rely on magic to defend yourself instead of…” Her words trailed off, but Credence understood their meaning. It was better to use a charm instead of the Obscurus attacking buildings or stabbing people trying to help him.

“Once the Ministry can see that you’re not dangerous,” Tina began, only to be interrupted by Newt scoffing; “He’s not dangerous! Would we be sitting here if he was? If only people could use reason when it comes to anything different to themselves instead of turning straight to fear, then…” He blinked at the narrow-eyed look she sent him and finished with a shrug, “I’m just saying he’s only dangerous if they make him.”

“If you’re not going to help, be quiet,” Miss Goldstein instructed, turning to face Credence again. “Now, it might be a little early for you, but has Mr. Graves talked to you about the Patronus Charm?”

Credence frowned a little. “He mentioned it once, but he said I wasn’t ready yet.”

Biting her lower lip, Miss Goldstein nodded. “Yeah, he might be right, but these are desperate times… If Grindelwald attacks you again, Credence, you need to be able to defend yourself.”

Instantly reminded of his failure that had ended in Mr. Graves being captured and tortured for hours, Credence ducked his head a little and clenched his jaw. “I can defend myself.” And he intended to prove it if the Ministry dared to lay a hand on either of them! He would level the place!

Almost as if he could hear his thoughts, Mr. Graves looked over at him from across the room and Credence was desperate to make that closed-off, uncaring expression of his go away.

All they wanted was to be left alone, but no. MACUSA, Grindelwald, now this British Ministry, they all kept interfering, kept hurting them… if they didn’t stop, it would end badly for them all.

-

Percival Graves struggled to breathe as he shook through the final wave of electricity from Nadder’s spell. He’d accidentally bit his tongue and while it was no major injury, the blood was filling his mouth. Every day, Nadder would enter the basement and see how much pain it would take to break the proud Graves. He had not buckled yet, but it was a challenge Nadder relished.

Finally able to function again, Graves coughed up blood while his tormentor gleefully watched.

“I have to give you credit, Graves,” Nadder said with approval. “You’ve held out longer than any other prisoner here!”

Closing his eyes briefly, fighting hard to regain his senses, Percival spat out more blood before he managed to speak. “I can’t die yet. I need to hurt you to within an inch of your life first.”

Laughing, Nadder crouched down in front of him. “You still think you’re going to walk out of here?”

As much as he wanted to keep throwing barbs and threats towards the other man, Graves was in too much damn pain to find the energy. His hands were chained behind his back, he was lying on his side on the dirty floor and he hurt everywhere. He was starting to worry that he was indeed never going to leave this cursed basement… 

“If you’re relying on your boy coming to save you, you’re in for a disappointment,” Nadder kept on talking. “He’ll be dead tomorrow.”

That caught Graves’ attention. “What do you mean…?”

Grinning, the dark wizard leaned forward. “Grindelwald is going to bring him to the Ministry tomorrow and have him unleash the Obscurus. It’s going to be quite the show! I mean, I’ve heard it almost wrecked New York. They are going to go all in to kill it, of course, but I’m willing to bet your boy is going to take a lot of them with him!”

Struggling to sit up, despite how every cell in his body was screaming in agony, Graves managed to fight the pain and dizziness for a moment so he could look Nadder in the eye. He needed to know if this was a lie or not. “Why would Credence attack the Ministry? You’re not making sense, Nadder.”

Nadder actually had the audacity to wink at him. “He’s got your boy thinking they are going to try to kill you and him both.”

The words brought a chill through his already battered body. Percival knew Credence would never react with violence, unless it was to protect the one person he thought far too highly of; Percival Graves. 

“Don’t worry,” Nadder said, straightening and holding up his wand to cast another painful spell, “I will tell you all about it afterwards!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is something wrong with Percival Graves...

That third night, Mr. Graves didn’t even go to bed. Credence stared at the ceiling, feeling strangely terrified of the idea of facing the Ministry the next day. He rolled over in the bed and buried his face in the pillow where his partner had rested his head the previous night.

Mr. Graves even smelled different, it seemed.

Would things ever be good between them again? Would he forgive him for failing if he managed to protect them tomorrow? What if Credence couldn’t do it? What if the Ministry were too strong?

Hugging the pillow, Credence cried quietly while the black smoke surrounded his trembling form.

When morning came, he was more exhausted than ever and so scared he felt like throwing up. Credence wasn’t afraid of dying, he was just terrified he would mess things up again. Mr. Graves would definitely never forgive him if he did!  
He’d much rather have Mr. Graves hit him and get it over with than this cold distance between them.

Theseus and Mr. Graves were already by the breakfast table when Credence slinked into the room. He had absolutely no appetite and merely watched as the two men sipped at their tea and went over what they had planned to present to the Ministry in their defense.

When the moment of their departure approached, they were also joined by Newt and Miss Goldstein. It was when Theseus was occupied with his brother that Credence finally saw the opportunity to approach Mr. Graves alone.

“Are you ready?” The former Auror asked, glancing over at him.

Credence shrugged, tugging at the sleeve of his own shirt and hunching his shoulders. “I just… Do we have to do this? Can’t we just… run? Like before?”

Mr. Graves frowned. “If we run, they will just chase us. They will never give up and we will never be safe, Credence.”

Nodding, Credence shifted his weight uneasily. “Okay… Yeah… But do you think the plan you and Mr. Scamander put together will be enough?”

“No.” Mr. Graves didn’t hesitate or seem upset by the fact.

It made Credence feel cold. “I won’t let them hurt us…” He shifted his gaze to the floor.

Mr. Graves slowly pulled him into a one-armed hug and murmured by his ear; “That’s right, Credence. You have to protect us. Show them how strong you are. Unleash it all on them.”

Instinctively burrowing closer, seeking reassurance and warmth from the familiar form, Credence couldn’t stop shivering. “But what if it isn’t enough?” Wouldn’t some of the strongest wizards in Britian be gathered there? “And isn’t me attacking them exactly what they are afraid of?”

There was an annoyed scoff and Mr. Graves tightened his grip on him, making him feel trapped instead of protected. “Stop asking stupid questions, Credence, and just do what you are told!”

Credence’s eyes widened.  
He raised his hands and pushed Mr. Graves away with a hard, sudden movement. He stared with horrified realization at the man. “You’re not him.”

-

Theseus, Newt and Miss Goldstein all turned to look at them as Credence took a step backwards, repeating what was now so painfully obvious; “You’re not Graves.”

The one impersonating Percival Graves merely shook his head in fake bafflement at the weird statement.

“What are you saying?” Theseus asked, stepping closer to Credence with a wary look from one to the other. 

“That is not Graves!” Credence yelled and confusion was spreading. It allowed Newt to pull out his wand without detection and cast the spell with an elegant flick of his wrist.  
”Revelio.”

To everyone’s shock; Graves twitched and grunted annoyed as his hair turned blond, his skin paled and Grindelwald’s features bled through until mismatched eyes gleamed mischievously at them. “Oh dear…”

Within a heartbeat, Theseus was by Grindelwald’s side, his wand just under Gellert’s jaw in a threatening move, while Newt and Miss Goldstein both had to hold back Credence.  
“Where is he?” Credence screamed, fighting to get his hands on Grindelwald. “Where?”

Glancing from the stone-faced Theseus to the distraught Credence, Grindelwald smiled. “If you kill me, you’ll never know.”

Black smoke exploded from Credence, shoving Newt and Miss Goldstein away with such force that they were sent flying through the air, but all he cared about was stalking closer to Grindelwald. “Where. Is. He?” His white eyes flared with fury and the black smoke whipped crazily around him, growing in size and intensity.

Grindelwald’s smile widened, sharp as a razorblade. “He’s closer than you’d think.” He clicked his tongue. “Unless Nadder has killed him by now.”

“WHERE?”  
Credence vanished as the Obscurus roared fully to life, pushing Theseus away and grabbing Grindelwald. Lifting him up in the air, black tendrils wrapped themselves around his throat. 

Struggling to breathe, kicking and clawing at the black smoke in vain, Grindelwald never lost his smile and he was nearly unconscious when he wheezed; “Kill me and you’ll never find him… Remember…?”

The Obscurus howled in a mindless rage and shot up through the ceiling, shattering everything in its way. Soon it hovered above the city with the dark wizard in its grasp, and the mass kept growing bigger with the growing intensity of its fury.

-

It felt like an earthquake, the ground shook, but Percival Graves lifted his head and instantly recognized the roaring sound that followed.

Credence.

The Obscurus was loose, it sounded even angrier than in New York and Graves knew Credence’s powers had grown since then. He would demolish half of London before they’d be able to even slow him down and then they would kill him!

Graves had to stop them!

He managed to get up on his knees, dizziness and nausea instantly on him like rabid dogs, but he forced himself to focus on the stairs and called out for the guard he knew was up there. Nadder had not arrived yet, but there was always someone up there. He was terrified that Graves would die without him getting to watch it happen.

There was a jab of relief when the door opened and some guy came down to see what he wanted. After they had seen his sorry state, they had gotten sloppy about keeping their distance. Good.

Graves waited until the man was close enough and then he shot up to ram his shoulder against the man’s chest; slamming him against the wall. Wheezing, the guard crumbled and Graves made sure he would stay down by delivering a harsh kick.

Swaying on his feet, Percival felt unconsciousness creeping in on his mind, but a second roar from the Obscurus made him snap out of it. He managed to kneel down, grunting with pain, and stole the guard’s wand. He put it into the magical links in his chains and ordered it to undo the spell, knowing it would either obey or react violently and both would suit his purpose.

It was worth the burns on his wrists when the wand exploded as it broke the chains and Graves started making his way up the stairs. His legs were barely working, he almost fell several times, but eventually the door was within reach. That was when he heard voices.

Percival felt a flicker of dread, but soon realized the guards were busy chatting amongst themselves. He opened the door a glitch and peered through it; seeing two other wizards standing with their backs towards him and staring out a window. The Obscurus roared again.

Drawing a deep breath, Graves had to close his eyes for a moment as the dizziness threatened to send him tumbling down the stairs again. He carefully opened the door just enough for him to slide into the room. Percival was in so much pain by now it felt like his entire body was on fire… He knew he wouldn’t make it far, but he had to try! For Credence…

He reached the entrance door and had taken one step outside when he heard they had discovered his escape. Graves tried to run, but he only managed a couple of steps before he had to reach out and lean against the wall or collapse completely. His magic felt distant and cold. 

He stumbled a few more steps but then he heard his captors had followed him out into the street.

Percival turned to face them, saw what looked like a huge black thundercloud looming in the distance and he gambled everything he had on one simple move; he raised his hand and channeled a fierce pillar of light straight up into the sky.

He managed to make it last for exactly five seconds, then Graves collapsed. He had reached his limit, had nothing more to give, but as his body gave up and he fell backwards; the last thing he registered was that he didn’t fall to hard cobblestone, but into a gentle and cold embrace.

The two guards backed away with pure terror on their faces as Percival Graves was cradled in black smoke and an absolutely furious Obscurus the size of a massive building swirled protectively around him.

  
[](https://ibb.co/cfCQGF)  
  
[image uploader](https://nb.imgbb.com/)  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Picture shamelessly borrowed from Imagine Dragons, because of fitting imagery! ;) )


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the hurricane's eye...

A small distance away, Theseus had the dazed Grindelwald in chains and his wand ready to keep him captive. “I got him!” He stared at his brother and Tina, before he nodded meaningfully in the direction of where they had seen the Obscurus race off. 

There had been a flash of light in the sky and the black mass had abruptly released its prey, (Dropping the semi-unconscious Grindelwald to what would have been his death if not for Theseus’s quick reaction.) and it had been off like a shot. “Go! If Credence starts tearing up the city, they will kill him! Hurry!”

Newt and Tina exchanged quick looks before nodding in synch and darting off with short bursts of apparition at the Obscurus’ trail.

The sight that met them made Tina gasp and cover her mouth under wide eyes. Newt swallowed hard and took in the destruction with a faint shiver of apprehension.

Amidst two semi-ruined buildings with blood spattered up the walls, the Obscurus was hovering just above ground. It was almost as big as the houses itself, snarling and crackling with ominous energy.  
Tina reached out and touched Newt by the wrist, nodding towards the center of the Obscurus.

It was hard to make out a face, but they could glimpse the shape of a person held inside the core. The Obscurus curled possessively around the person, making it look like whoever it was, was floating on his back in some dark water.

Newt nodded, coming to the same conclusion as she had; Credence had indeed found the real Percival Graves. Had he been the source of that flash of light? Judging by the blood on the buildings and the two slumped bodies on the street, his captors had paid the ultimate price.   
But they still had to calm Credence down and get both him and Graves out of there before others arrived and things got even worse.

Graves was alive, Newt was certain of that, mostly because Credence would have gone on a rampage if not, but he might be in need of help.

“Credence?” Newt called out, signaling for Tina to wait while he cautiously approached, much like he had done in the tunnel in New York. “Credence, it’s me. It’s Newt. Can you hear me?”

The Obscurus rumbled, but didn’t lash out. He took that as a good sign. 

“Credence, you need to listen to me,” Newt continued, “Credence, you have to stop.” 

“Think about Graves,” Tina joined in, taking a step forward as well. “He’s not safe here.”

That made the Obscurus rumble and twitch with agitation. 

Newt nodded. “She’s right. Think about Graves. Go back to Theseus’ apartment. It’s safe there. We’ll take care of the rest. Please.”

“You know you can trust us,” Tina pleaded as well. “Go. We’ll protect you. Both of you. I promise.”

The Obscurus shot off, carrying its precious cargo, and Tina carefully took a hold of Newt’s hand. He squeezed her fingers lightly as they watched the blood on the walls, and then they began to fix the buildings. A few moments later, Theseus appeared as well and told them to go home, and to leave the rest to him.

-

Back in Theseus Scamander’s apartment, the spare bedroom was filled with the agitated presence of the Obscurus. In its center, it gently lowered the unconscious Percival Graves onto the soft bed.

Credence materialized within the black smoke after that, keeping the black mass present to create a shield against the world and preventing others from entering the room.  
He shivered and sobbed quietly at the state of Graves and had never felt more guilty.

Kneeling down next to the bed, Credence placed a gentle hand on top of Percival’s. He silently wished the blood and bruises gone and felt the Obscurus reaching out to grant his wish. When the skin was once again flawless, Credence reached out to gently correct the man’s hair into his trademark style as well as he could manage.

After that, Credence lowered his head as if in prayer and cried until he had no more tears to shed.

It didn’t matter if Percival forgave him or not, Credence would never forgive himself.  
Or the men responsible for this.

Time passed, but Credence did not move an inch. He noted the others returning to the apartment, heard them call out to him, a couple of times he heard them say they were leaving food outside the door, but still he did not move.

He sat kneeling by Graves’ side, head down and lost in his misery, until the day and the night had passed and the sun rose again outside. That was when his suffering was interrupted by a light touch to his hair.

Credence snapped his head up and was amazed to see Percival looking at him with a faint smile.  
Proving himself wrong that he had no more tears to shed, Credence’s eyes instantly welled up and he grasped a desperate hold of Percival’s hand with both of his.

“Hey,” Graves whispered groggily, his fingers sluggishly taking a hold of Credence as well.

Credence struggled to gather himself, the Obscurus swirling frantically around in the room, making the entire building shake. He had to try twice before he could choke out the words; “I’m so sorry!”

“Come here,” Graves barely had the energy to tug at him, but Credence scrambled to obey and carefully curled up next to him on the bed. He shook violently when Percival wrapped his arms around him, even though it probably still hurt to move, and gently stroked his hair. 

“It’s okay” the former Auror mumbled softly, his eyes already closing again. “It wasn’t your fault. Everything is going to be okay, Credence…”

As Percival drifted off to sleep again, Credence sobbed quietly against his chest, but the darkness calmed and the building stopped shaking.

-

He woke up still feeling exhausted, but the second Percival Graves realized it had not been a dream and that he was in fact out of that basement and not merely imagining Credence’s presence next to him again; he also felt an intense wave of relief.

The Obscurus was still circling the room, keeping them safe and the door blocked, and Graves knew it was the real Credence too considering there was no way Gellert could copy that.

As if he could sense he was awake, Credence slowly lifted his head to look up at him. He looked as exhausted as Graves felt. His eyes were puffy from crying and his usually so lush mouth was pulled into a tight line as he clamped down on all the emotions threatening to break free.

“Thank you,” Graves said, drawing a thumb under Credence’s eye to wipe away the first run-away tear. “For saving my life once again. I’m starting to lose count of how many times that make.”

Credence shook his head and his fingers had a frantic, tight grip on Graves’ shirt. “I thought you were angry with me. I thought… I didn’t understand why you were so distant, but I…” Tears were flowing freely now and he had to gulp the words out. “You didn’t want me around and I didn’t… God, I’m so sorry!” The Obscurus began to pick up its pace again. “I should have known!”

Frowning, Percival reached up to cup Credence’s face between his hands, making him meet his eyes. “Did he hurt you?” If that man had hurt Credence, no one would be able to protect Grindelwald from the wrath of Percival Graves.

Credence shook his head again.

Relief flooded him once more and Graves exhaled before he pulled Credence down to rest on his chest. “I need you to listen to me, Credence. I’m serious.” He stroked the messy black hair in a comforting gesture. “Gellert Grindelwald is a master-deceiver. He tricked me too, remember? I spent months with him before I was sent on a mission to find you; he probably observed everything he needed to copy me. This wasn’t your fault.”

The Obscurus calmed slightly but Credence still felt tense as iron. “But… they hurt you,” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Percival admitted quietly. “But don’t you worry. I’m going to hurt them back.” There was a flash of malice in his eyes.

“Let me help,” Credence asked.

“Deal.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real Percival Graves gets to meet the gang!

Theseus and Newt both jumped when Credence walked into the kitchen with heavy steps.

“Credence!” Newt gave a nervous smile, while Theseus looked plain nervous. “Is everything… okay?”

Nodding, exhausted and unable to deal with their questions at the moment, Credence cleared his throat. “Coffee.”

“Coffee?” Newt echoed somewhat quizzically. “Coffee! You want coffee! You drink coffee?”

Credence shook his head. “It’s for him.”

“Percival is awake?” That caught Theseus’ attention. “Is he alright?”

Wrapping his arms around himself, Credence didn’t really know how to answer that. “He’s awake. And he wants coffee.”

The Scamander brothers flew into action and he ended up returning to the room with a trey with a full breakfast, including coffee.

Graves was sitting up in the bed when Credence entered. He raised his eyebrows at the loaded trey. “How many people do they think are in here?”

“They said you need food to regain your strength,” Credence mumbled, lowering the trey onto the nightstand next to the bed. He watched as the former Auror shrugged amiably and plucked off a piece of a scone to shove in his mouth before starting on his precious coffee.

Graves was pale, had dark smudges under his eyes and his stubbles were threatening to go into beard-territory, but he seemed more like himself than the imposter had been for the last three days.  
Mid-sip, the dark eyes held Credence’s gaze and flicked towards the trey; telling him to eat as well.

“I’m not hungry,” Credence said.

Lowering the coffee cup, Graves sighed. “Sit down and eat something, Credence. Don’t make me force-feed you.”

Actually smiling a little, Credence sat down on the edge of the bed and the two shared the meal in silence. It ended when Graves leaned back against the pillows, absently scratching at his scruffy neck with a thoughtful pout. “I need a shave.”

Coffee and a shave… Credence found himself on the verge of tears again, but this time they were not the miserable kind.  
Percival Graves, the real Percival Graves, was back.

-

Stepping out of the shower, Percival allowed his magic to handle the razor while he took care of his hair. It was nice to see his proper self appearing in the mirror. He wasn’t happy about the shade under his eyes, but an extended stay with Nadder was bound to leave its mark and thankfully it wasn’t a lasting one. 

He’d tried telling Credence that he could just fix his old suit, but Credence had been adamant about fetching his suitcase so he could put a new one on. Truth be told, he was grateful. He didn’t relish the idea of returning to the clothes he’d worn in that basement.

In fact, he took the memory of what had happened in that basement and put it with his other bad memories and buried it deep, deep within himself.

Showered, teeth brushed, shaved, his hair done and wearing his favorite suit, Graves was finally ready to face the world again. He was still a little tired, but nothing he couldn’t handle!

Predictably Credence was waiting for him in the bedroom and he jumped up on his feet with a look of approval at the sight of him. “That’s… You’re… You look good!”

“I know,” Percival replied, he’d seen his reflection after all, and motioned Credence to follow him.

The younger man moved over, but Graves noticed how there still was a shadow of guilt and uncertainty on his face. He waited until Credence was close enough and, instead of reaching for the door, he took a hold of Credence to push him against the wall next to the exit.

Credence stared wide-eyed, pressing against the wall as Graves crowded in on him.

He didn’t say anything, merely leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against his for a couple of times, letting Credence catch up and eventually Credence moved after him for more. Once he knew they were both on board, Graves leaned in for a longer kiss and he savored everything from the soft lips to the full body shiver he felt go through the younger man.

He kept it chaste and pure for a little while, then he went for deep and dirty and there was a sweet flicker of want as it made Credence grab Graves’ shoulders with a soft moan. After that it was all about teasing out more sounds like that.

Percival kissed him hungrily, his mouth, his neck, ran his hands up his soon-heaving chest and slid a firm thigh between Credence’s to make him gasp at the intensity of it all.  
Once he had Credence completely lost to desire, Graves pulled back a little and took his face between his hands and waited for him to focus. “This?” He said, “This is what I’m going to do to you later, Credence. I want you to know that. I want you to think about how I’ll be thinking about this.”

With his pupils blown wide and his lush lips parted, Credence shuddered helplessly. “Percival…”

Percival tutted, placing a finger to Credence’s lips to silence him. “You’re mine, Credence. Nothing will change that. Not even that blond imposter. You’re mine and I will be planning, throughout this entire day, what else I’ll do to you tonight. Just think about that, yeah? Nothing else. Just this.”

He smiled, leaned in for a final and lingering kiss and pulled away to leave the room, but not without noting there was no trace of guilt or despair on Credence face now; merely flustered excitement.

-

Graves stepped into the living room and was pleased to see Theseus Scamander there and how the man got up with his usual wide smile.

“Percival!” Theseus stepped forward and the two shook hands. “The proper one this time, yes? Dreadfully sorry about that, old boy, but it’s been a while, yeah?” Scamander looked almost the same, except for a little more sadness to his eyes and more muscles to his frame.

“Years,” Graves confirmed. “Congratulations with your capture of Grindelwald.”

Theseus made a face. “Right, well, couldn’t have done it without you. Or your lad.”

“Glad to be of assistance,” Graves sniped and the two shared a faint laugh; the kind shared when you’ve seen so much horror that you need to laugh at things or go crazy.

“Coffee?” Theseus offered, gesturing for Graves to take a seat in the sofa. “I have reason to suspect that time has done nothing to dampen your dreadful caffeine addiction.”

“You are absolutely correct,” Percival said, sitting down. “Tea is just warm water. And don’t start lecturing me on that particular topic again, you will never be able to convert me, it is an established fact.” He frowned a little at Credence hovering in the doorway, so he lifted a hand to wiggle his fingers in a gesture for him to get his perky ass inside the room.

When Theseus returned, he blinked a little surprised to see Credence sitting next to Graves and Percival having a casual arm along the backrest to occasionally brush his fingertips against the younger man’s neck. Still, it pleased him to see Percival with the smug look he remembered from the past and Credence behaving less like a ghost hovering in the background.  
“One toxic sludge,” Theseus commented as he sat down the cup of coffee on the table. “Credence, can I get you anything?”

Credence shook his head, squirming a little as Graves caressed his neck and he sent the former Auror what was supposed to be a corrective glare but it ended up a mirthful squint.

“So what happens now?” Percival asked, scanning his former war-buddy. “Where do we stand?”

Sighing, Theseus avoided his eyes. “It’s… complicated.” He cleared his throat. “The MACUSA wants your heads and the Ministry were on the verge of giving you up to them, but then there was the appearance of Grindelwald and the Obscurus-incident…” 

“Let me talk to them,” Graves said.

“Yeah, I…” Theseus nodded thoughtfully, “I think that would be a good idea.”

“And you need to notify everyone involved in the information Grindelwald got a hold of while he was here. You got to change everything and fast.” Graves touched Credence’s neck again, but more to reassure himself the young man was really there than anything else.

“Already done, Percy,” Theseus replied with a humorless smile. “I can’t believe he tricked me. I’m supposed to be the bloody expert on his methods!”

Credence leaned a little closer to Percival and his touch. “He tricked all of us…”

“And Nadder?” Graves had to ask, struggling to keep distaste out of his voice and failing.

“No sign of him,” Theseus admitted. “But we got everyone on the lookout for him.”

-

A while later they were also joined by Newt and Miss Goldstein again.  
Credence was sorry to see Miss Goldstein look at him… differently. He wondered if the strange mix of sadness and disappointment in her eyes came from him turning into the Obscurus when Grindelwald was exposed. She did try to tell him to use magic instead of the darkness and she obviously meant it…

“Tina…” Graves greeted with a faint smile and she flushed a little, mumbling apologies for not seeing through Grindelwald’s disguise sooner. “Don’t worry about it.”

Newt seemed even more uncomfortable than before, maybe a bigger indicator that this was indeed the real Graves, and Percival’s sour glance his way did nothing to ease the tension.

“I hear you are engaged,” Graves said before shaking his head with a sigh. “Oh, Tina…” He had his own little way of saying her name. It sounded almost... sensual, yet laced with disappointment.

Oy,” Theseus piped up from his seat, not bothering to glance up from whatever document he was reading, but feeling a brotherly urge to stand up for Newt. Credence cringed a little on Percival’s rude behalf.

“You know, Newt hasn’t betrayed his coworkers and friends,” Miss Goldstein muttered, then seemed a little startled at her own words.

Graves accepted the verbal jab with grace, but still looked a little pained by her choice. “If you’re so set on a saint and a Scamander, why not take him?” He nodded towards Theseus. “To be honest, I thought you had better taste, Tina. I thought you had higher standards.”

Miss Goldstein flushed a deep red, Newt stuttered something in his offended state, while Theseus leaned back in his chair and sent Graves a horribly dry look while muttering; “Really, Percy? Really?”

Credence, suddenly terrified that they would all start arguing and fighting, grabbed a tight hold of Percival’s arm and was about to beg him to behave when he suddenly saw the man fighting against a smile.  
A quick glance over at Theseus revealed he was struggling not to smile as well. Clearly this was some bizarre inside humor they shared, but Newt still looked upset and Credence didn’t like that one bit.

“I should think that someone who saved the life of Percival Graves when he was poisoned is a catch and should be respected,” Credence stated somewhat innocently.

That made Graves glare at him, Theseus laugh, but most importantly; it made Newt smile.

That, in turn, made Credence smile.

Things weren’t fine. Things were very far from fine. There was still so much they needed to talk about, they had to face the Ministry or make a run for it, Nadder was still walking around a free man, but for the first time since the abduction; Credence had hope.

No, things were definitely not fine, but they could be.  
Eventually.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Credence wants what Graves promised... ;)

They talked for a while longer, going over what they had planned for their defense in front of the Ministry for Graves’ benefit as he’d missed out on that, but he noticed that Credence had trouble concentrating.

Probably because he’d heard most of it before, but Percival kept up his teasing caresses to chase away the flickers of concern he occasionally saw in the younger man’s eyes. Still, when it was decided that they would face the Ministry the very next day; all color drained from Credence’s face.

Graves declared he wanted to speak with Credence in private and the others didn’t object. They probably saw the fear in the feline eyes as well. 

He held the door open to their room, letting Credence enter first, before he followed and Graves had barely shut the door before Credence was the one to push him against the wall this time.  
Surprised, but not alarmed, Percival welcomed the sensation of Credence’s mouth claiming his and knew his hours of teasing combined with the overhanging threat of the Ministry the very next day was wrecking havoc with the poor Obscurial’s libido.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall when Credence tugged off his tie, undid the top button on his shirt and shoved the shirt collar aside to gain access to his throat. Graves allowed himself to linger on the feeling of the hot mouth on his skin, but when Credence took a hold of his shirt and yanked it half-way open in a shower of buttons; he made a surprised objection.

“That’s an expensive shirt, you caveman!”

“I’ll fix it later,” Credence merely mumbled against his chest and covered his skin with wet kisses. “I promise. I just, I need…” He tugged at the shirt again, pushing it over Percival’s shoulders, close to tearing it off if it didn’t go willingly.

Breathing a laugh, Graves decided to help and shed the shirt before it was beyond repair. He had barely gotten the piece of clothing off and aimed to place it on a chair when Credence merely tore it out of his hand, dropped it to the floor and fetched up against him with hungry kisses again.  
There was a fierce bite of desperation in the young man’s actions. 

Graves began opening Credence’s shirt as well, mindful of the buttons as he was no brute, but it was getting difficult to keep his calm as the young man kept kissing and touching all the right places. He kept working on shedding the rest of their clothes while Credence kept up with his devious work and inching them closer and closer to the bed.

Percival was once again surprised as he was more or less pushed down on said bed once the clothes were gone, but he didn’t have time to complain as Credence followed and crawled eagerly on top of him, and when the kisses began anew; he couldn’t remember why he was supposed to complain.

Still, despite the sharp and sweet arousal that followed Credence’s demanding behavior, it also made Graves decide to take over control for a little while. There was too much desperation and too little pure want in Credence. It was too much about fear and not enough about them.

Rolling them over, Percival reached down and took a hold of Credence’s cock, mumbled the spell needed to make his touch slick and perfect, and started stroking him.

Credence gasped, clutching hard at Graves’ shoulders. “Wait, please, I want… I need… “

“I know what you want, Credence,” Percival was amazed his low voice sounded so calm. “And I got what you need. You just have to trust me. I’ll take care of you.”

Instantly the young man slumped back into the sheets and surrendered himself to Graves’ touch with such blind trust it felt like a punch to Percival’s stomach. It was everything he had taught himself never to feel again, yet Graves wanted to rip the spleen out of Grindelwald for almost destroying it in Credence.

-

Everything felt tight and urgent and Credence just really, really wanted Percival to fuck him until he couldn’t think anymore. He didn’t want to worry about the next day, he didn’t want to linger on how he’d slept next to an imposter, how he had been pining for touches while Graves was being tortured, but most importantly; he needed to feel that Percival Graves still wanted him. 

But he was so VERY wound up and Percival’s hand felt oh so good, Credence couldn’t help how his hips snapped up or how quickly he was becoming undone. Graves’ weight was anchoring him, the touch was filled with intent and the release was actually more relief than pleasure when he keened his way through it.

Panting and trembling in the aftermath, Credence was on the verge of crying again when he felt Percival press light kisses to his neck, sliding soothing caresses over his skin while patiently waiting for the young man to regain his senses.

“Do you…” Credence began, but he had to hide his face against Graves’ arm before he could finish his question, “Do you want my mouth…?”

A faint shudder ran through the former Auror and it told Credence that the idea was most welcome, which was why he was surprised when Percival trailed those soft kisses from his neck to his mouth, murmuring; “It’s okay, Credence. There is no rush. We got time.”

Credence wanted to object, wanted to point out that they did not have time, but he did trust Percival, and if he was in no hurry, then there was no need to rush.

It was lovely, after the frantic and gnawing hunger had been sated, to simply savor every touch and linger in every kiss. He could feel the tension in Graves’ shoulders and the hardness that was sliding against his stomach, but still there was no rush. 

Credence ran his hands up Percival’s powerful arms, wrapped his arms around the broad back and tasted him just below the jawline. Graves’ fingers dug lightly into Credence’s thigh-muscles, he placed softly teasing kisses on his chest, aiming to caress every spot he’d learned would make the younger man moan; rebuilding the want every so slowly.

It was a while later that Credence realized he was half-hard again and had somehow forgotten all about fearing the next day amidst the lazy and enticing caresses.

He urged Percival over on his back again and was thrilled when the former Auror indulged him. After that, he straddled Graves’ waist and took one of the man’s skillful hands to guide it where he wanted it so he could be prepared for more. Graves indulged him in that as well. 

When Credence could finally move to sink down on Graves’ straining cock, he also placed a hand to the broad chest to prevent him from sitting up. Percival shuddered, at the end of what he could stand, but he still gave a faint smile and sank back amongst the pillow to let Credence run the show.

And this, yes, this was what Credence both wanted and needed. He lifted his face towards the ceiling with a soft sigh, rolling his hips, savoring the feeling that would have drowned in the vicious hunger he’d been lost to when they first entered the room. He went from half to completely hard after a couple of grinding moves. He suspected it was partially due to how it made Percival inhale sharply and how his hands shot up to take a tight hold of his hips.

-

Credence moved a little faster, harder, as his confidence grew. He studied Percival carefully, noting every flash of pleasure and every satisfied glimpse in his dark eyes, finding nothing of the distance he’d suffered through under the imposter. He rolled his hips, shuddered when he would hit that perfect spot inside him, until he was breathing hard again and felt a second release crawl up his spine.

And as Credence moved, Graves was watching him in return, with greed and even a bit of pride. Graves’ eyes seemed even darker than usual, an impossible thing, but that kind of focus from that kind of man was more intoxicating than anything else in the world.

Clenching and rolling down hard, Credence had a moment of sweet triumph as he saw Percival arch his back and felt him come, both with a surprised inhale of breath. Then he had his hand on Credence and he followed him shortly after that with a helpless twist of his body and a whine.

If someone had asked him what was best: the sex or Percival holding him close afterwards, Credence would struggle to answer. The sex made his brain melt, but the closeness that followed mended his soul.

Lying on his back, Graves didn’t seem to mind Credence draped halfway on top of him, resting his head on his shoulder. He had one arm lightly around the younger man, drawing a lazy thumb over his hip as sweat dried on their skin, and it almost felt like old times.

Credence had not doubted the emotional bond between them since he’d realized that Graves wasn’t merely after the Obscurus, but what if Credence’s failure to save him had changed things? Credence was dead certain that Graves would have noticed if Grindelwald had replaced him within minutes! He had been worried that Graves wouldn’t want him anymore, that question was now gone, but he still needed to know if he’d lost his heart instead.

“Percival…?” Credence studied his profile, knowing he’d never stop loving this man, even if he didn’t feel the same anymore. He’d go to his death loving him, like a bad Victorian novel.

“Give me a few minutes at least,” Graves drawled in response, not opening his eyes, and gave Credence’s behind a light slap with his hand.

Snorting a laugh, Credence felt an embarrassed flush crawl up his neck. “That’s not…” He cleared his throat and the smile vanished from his face. “I need to ask you something.” There was an encouraging grunt, so he continued, even as fear was trying to stop him. “Do you… love me?”

Still not opening his eyes, Graves frowned. “What do you think?”

“I think,” Credence began, “I hope… you do?”

“Wrong answer,” Percival stated in a flat voice. He finally opened his eyes and glanced over at him. “Dammit, Credence, you **know** I do.”

Recovering from the shock of the first answer, Credence realized that when Percival Graves had said that he was still his, would forever be his, he meant it. Nothing had changed. He felt himself smile.

“Now, shut up and rest,” Graves muttered, closing his eyes again. “I’m planning to fuck you again real soon, and I fully intend to make Theseus’ neighbors file noise complaints.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams and harsh realities collide and they must prepare to face the music...

“Wake up.” A voice called out and Graves slowly lifted his head to find himself back in the basement.

It had been a dream; escaping, Credence finding him, being safe again… It had all been a dream.

Nadder grinned and pulled his wand out. “Did you miss me?”

Percival felt a wave of hopelessness crash over him. He’d never get out of there alive, he realized that now. Credence would attack the Ministry and be killed because Percival Graves had, once again, failed him. Nadder had promised to tell him all about it, but Graves wished he’d rather just kill him along with the younger man. 

With Credence’s blood on his hands, there was no point in going on anyway.

Closing his eyes again, Graves tried to brace himself against the painful spells he knew would hit him at any moment. Maybe he could provoke Nadder into losing control and kill him by accident?

“There, there, buddy,” a voice from the past said and raw fear slammed into Percival. His eyes shot open just in time to see Nadder’s features bleed into Ben’s handsome face. “I got you. Just like old times.”

Gasping for air, Graves woke up for real and found himself staring at the ceiling of Theseus’ spare room. His heart was racing like crazy.

A gentle touch to his chest made him start and he quickly glanced over to find Credence looking at him with a concerned frown. Percival forced himself to give a faint smile, whipping his fear back under control and pretended to be perfectly at ease. “Did I wake you? Sorry. Go back to sleep.”

Credence’s frown deepened and Graves realized his hand was resting on his chest and he could probably feel his frantic heartbeat. The younger man flicked his gaze up from his hand to meet Percival’s own eyes. “Sometimes… it helps to talk about it. It does for me, at least.”

Graves looked back up at the ceiling again.

“If you don’t want to, I won’t force you,” Credence continued in a gentle voice. “But I know how bad nightmares can be…”

“Nadder just stirred up some bad memories, that’s all,” Graves mumbled, automatically lifting a hand to draw his fingers over the young man’s arm to reassure himself that it wasn’t a dream. “It’s okay.”

“What did he do to you?” Credence’s voice had turned into a whisper, heavy with dread.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Percival countered. He tried to ease the concern away with long, even strokes up and down the beautiful, scarred back. 

“Did he… touch your hair?”

Graves instantly tensed up again. There were times when he forgot to remember that Credence really was sharp as a whip and picked up on things that passed most people by. By asking that question, he didn’t just ask about his fear that Nadder had sexually abused him, but he revealed that he’d picked up on old scars that Percival thought he’d hidden quite well. “He was more busy throwing lightning spells and other such treats my way.”

Credence nodded. He hesitated, before he dared to ask. “Will you tell me about it, some day?”

Graves knew he wasn’t talking about Nadder. “Maybe. Some day.” He doubted he ever wanted to talk about what happened back then. He felt tenser than he had been in ages from the dream alone!

When Credence tugged at him, Graves went with it and allowed the younger man to hold him close in a comforting embrace, resting his head on the scarred chest. Percival was slowly lulled back to sleep by the soothing sound of Credence’s steady heartbeat.

He had no more dreams that night.

-

Credence woke up feeling warm and restless and he gave a drowsy squirm as he felt lingering kisses trailing down his stomach. His muzzy brain managed to clarify that he wasn’t restless as much as really horny, and the teasing lips on his skin was to blame.

Lifting his head, he sent a blurry glance down to see Percival send him a devilish grin before returning to his task. Credence opened his mouth to ask, well, say something at least, but then the lips moved to place a dwelling kiss on the inside of his thigh and the young man could only tremble and moan as his head fell back against the pillow.

He quelled an instinctive urge to reach for Percival’s hair and guide him to where he was hard and aching, digging his fingers into the mattress and spreading his legs wider instead. Graves placed a kiss to the inside of his other thigh as well, sucking at the skin and adding a little teeth into it, and Credence knew he’d have a hickey there later. The thought made him moan again and his hips twitched impatiently.

Credence tried to mentally prepare for a morning of sweet torture, as Percival was fond of exposing him to, but instead the air was knocked out of his lungs when the former Auror suddenly wrapped his warm mouth around him. The room shook and a framed picture fell off the wall.

It was a good thing he didn’t aim to impress Graves with his stamina as Credence was a whimpering mess within seconds and coming with a shocked sound in less than a minute.

He was fighting to calm his breathing and get his brain functional again when Percival inched upwards, now trailing lazy kisses up his stomach. “Good morning, Credence.”

Still giving the occasional post-orgasmic shudder, Credence managed a dreamy nod. “Yeah. Yeah, this is definitely a good morning!” He heard Percival’s low, silky laugh and laughed a little himself. Credence only started to life when Graves moved to get out of bed and reached out to grab his wrist and prevent him from doing so. “Wait. Where are you going?”

Raising his eyebrows with an amused look, Percival nodded towards the bathroom from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I thought I’d get dressed. We got a big day today. It can’t hurt to look good.”  
“But,” Credence said, “you didn’t… It’s your turn now.”

“That was my turn,” Percival said, strangely serious. “I wanted to do that. You don’t owe me anything, Credence. Nothing we do here is a game of balance, you know that, right?”

Credence felt his heart ache with far too much love for this beautiful, unexpectedly kind and just perfectly flawed man. “Well,” he drawled, shifting over to slide his leg over Graves’ lap and straddled him in a smooth move that surprised himself, “maybe I want to?”

Percival grinned up at him, sliding his arms around Credence’s waist and pulling him close. “Well, if you want to, who am I to get in the way of that?”

Ten minutes later, Theseus Scamander glanced up from his breakfast tea with an annoyed huff as the building trembled. “Again? Seriously? Is he trying to catch up for all those years he didn’t get any?”

-

While Credence cringed with embarrassment under Theseus’ loud complaints that he was exhausted from Obliviating every Muggle in the area to prevent mass-hysteria due to the earthquakes that seemed to mystically appear every damn time Credence and Percival were alone for more than five damn minutes, Graves merely sipped his coffee and sent him the smuggest look he could muster.

“Keep that up and I’ll recommend jail time,” Theseus sniped.

Percival laughed. Credence didn’t.

Graves knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince the British Ministry of Magic to ‘not’ hand them over to the MACUSA, but he felt strangely optimistic. For some reason, he felt that it would be a good day.

Both he and Credence had survived the separation. Even Ben appearing in his dream had been banished in the younger man’s embrace and he’d challenged old fears by going down on Credence with great success the very next morning! Hell, if he needed something to motivate him to face the Ministry, all Percival needed to do was remember Credence, white-eyed and radiating black smoke, begging him for more, faster, harder, that very morning…

The smile on his face must have revealed his thoughts as Credence kicked at Percival’s shin under the table and the younger man refused to look his way again.

Once the time to leave for the Ministry came, even Theseus fell silent and serious.  
Credence was dangerously pale when Percival came over to correct his shirt-collar before they left. “Hey, you okay?”

Credence nodded, but it wasn’t very convincing. “What if it is a trap?”

“If they wanted to attack us, they would’ve done so the second they learned we were here,” Graves replied, straightening Credence’s tie too before patting a flat hand on his chest. 

“But the MACUSA told them to hand us over,” Credence mumbled.

“Exactly,” the former Auror grinned. “And nobody tells the Brits what to do.” He then seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Credence… I need you to trust me in there, ok?”

That made Credence blink confused. “Of course I trust you.”

Giving him a fond smile, Graves reached out to stroke away a black curl by Credence’s ear. “Good. Just let me do the talking in there. And trust me.”

Credence looked even more confused, but he did nod.

“You ready?” Theseus asked, eerily somber.

“Let’s go meet the British Ministry of Magic,” Percival Graves said and then the three of them disapparated.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have to face the British Ministry of Magic and Percival Graves might actually have a heart despite evidence against it!

Percival Graves strode into the massive building with his head held high and radiating confidence. He walked like he owned the place, with a stoic calm in his broad shoulders and dark eyes.

Credence tried to keep his shoulders down and his chin up, but there were so many people in there and every single one was eyeing him with distaste. Well, everyone except two; Newt and Miss Goldstein.  
The duo was standing by the entrance, clearly there for support, and Newt even gave Credence an encouraging smile.

Graves halted in front of the leaders and Credence shuffled to a halt one step behind him, half-hidden behind his shoulder.

“Percival Graves, the rogue Auror. Credence Barebone, the Obscurial.” A man stated, stepping forward to address them. “My name is Hector Fawley. I am the Minister of Magic.”

Graves gave an acknowledging nod. “We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us, Minister.”

Fawley, a fairly uncommon man of both stature and appearance, frowned a little at him. “You have created quite a stir, Mr. Graves, teaming up with this Grindelwald and later escaping prison to have the entire bloody MACUSA on your tail. I take it you realize we don’t appreciate you bringing this mess to our doorstep?”

“We didn’t come to London to start any trouble, I assure you,” the former Auror said.

“Hmm, but trouble there was nonetheless,” Fawley hummed. He suddenly shifted his focus to Credence. “I also hear that young man is the root of it all. An Obscurial, they tell me.”

“Not just any Obscurial,” Graves corrected. “I have never seen his like. He’s more powerful than any other Obscurus in history.”

That seemed to unsettle the Minister and Credence tried to make himself as small as possible.

“Obscurials are dangerous,” Fawley muttered. “They can’t be controlled and lash out.”

“I have travelled through Europe with Credence Barebone for over half a year. Surely if he was that unstable and bloodthirsty, you would have heard of instances where he’d lost control and caused destruction?”

Fawley raised an eyebrow. “I hear he tore two people apart only days ago in this very city.”

“That was me,” Graves said calmly. “I killed those two men.”

Credence started and stared over at him. What the hell was he doing? Why was he taking the blame for what Credence had done? He refused to let Percival be punished for something he did! Credence drew a breath, about to speak up, when someone discretely tugged at his sleeve.

Theseus stood by his side and when Credence glanced over; he gave a tiny shake of his head.

So Theseus knew about this. He knew and he was telling Credence to keep quiet.

It brought a bitter taste to his mouth, but the young man suddenly remembered how Graves had looked at him back in the apartment and how he’d asked for him to trust him; so while it didn’t sit right with him, Credence kept his silence.

-

“You admit to murder?” Fawley sounded surprised.

“I assume you are informed that Theseus Scamander recently brought Gellert Grindelwald into your custody. Grindelwald kept me imprisoned in an effort to blackmail Mr. Barebone into doing his bidding. I broke free, but two of his lackeys came after me. I had to fight back.”

“You are claiming self-defense?”

“I felt no urge to return to my captivity and they were quite insistent on that I would.” Graves held his gaze and spoke calmly. “They attacked. I fought back. It ended badly.”

Hector Fawley considered it before he gave a light huff. “I have never understood this big hullaballoo about Gellert Grindelwald. The man is a terrorist, for sure, but put a decent agent on the job and you will see results. And that we did.”

“That you did,” Graves agreed smoothly.

“Now, there is also the minor matter at hand where the MACUSA demand we hand you two back to them,” Fawley said, not sounding too pleased.

“Sir, if I may,” Graves said. “Ever since we left the US, we’ve lived in peace. We have harmed no one, caused no ruckus or any… hullaballoo. Everything we are accused of; we’ve merely done what we had to do to protect ourselves.”

“Even betraying the MACUSA by becoming one of Grindelwald’s servants?” Fawley smirked.

Percival felt a flicker of irritation, but managed to keep it under control from years of practice. “I never gave Grindelwald any confidential information, nor did I aid him in any other way than approaching Mr. Barebone to assess his powers. Once I realized how strong the Obscurus was, I knew I could not allow Grindelwald to abuse its powers. Nor did I find it fair that the MACUSA would execute an innocent young man, whose only crime was surviving a lifetime of abuse from his very mother.”

There was a faint humming as the people inside the huge building began talking amongst themselves. Did Credence imagine it, or were the looks his way a little milder? Even Miss Goldstein, who was staring at the floor, looked pained at fact that the MACUSA would have executed him for surviving what others had not.

“Whatever crimes the MACUSA wishes to lay at my door, the British Ministry of Magic is surely not someone who plays fetch to them?” Graves continued. “We don’t want to cause problems, Mr. Fawley, and we have broken no laws on British soil. We just want to be left alone.”

Hector Fawley stared at them, first Graves, then Credence, before he straightened slightly and called for silence. Once the room had fallen quiet again, he gave a magnanimous wave of his hand. “We shall have to discuss this. I will leave you in the custody of Mr. Scamander. Don’t even think about leaving the country, Mr. Graves. We are not done with you yet.”

Nodding, Graves thanked them for their time, turned and dragged Credence with him as he walked out of the building without looking back once.

-

Once they were back at the apartment, Credence instantly spun around to face Graves. “Why did you do that? Why did you say you killed those men? I’m the one who should be punished for it!”

Graves sent Theseus a look, the older Scamander brother nodded, and Graves motioned for Credence to follow him. He headed back to their room and closed the door to give them some privacy. “Don’t you trust me?”

“You know I do!” Credence exclaimed, “But I won’t have you carry my sins!”

Percival gave a fond smile before he shrugged. “I did it for two reasons. One, because it is better that they believe I did it. They’re afraid of you, Credence. They’re only looking for an excuse to lock you up, or worse. It is better they believe the cowardly traitor Percival Graves killed them in self-defense. Two, because I really would have done it myself if I had been able to. You shouldn’t have been put in that situation. If I hadn’t been too busy fainting like a damn damsel in distress, you wouldn’t have had to deal with them in your Obscurus-state.”

Credence’s anger and confusion vanished and was replaced with distress. He reached out and took a firm hold of the lapels on Percival’s jacket. “You’re no cowardly traitor!” He tugged at the jacket. “And it wasn’t your fault what happened to them. I have no idea how you even managed to escape, considering the state you were in… “

Graves mumbled something about stubbornness being one of his better qualities, but Credence wouldn’t let him squirm out of this one. “I won’t let them punish you for what I did. I swear it!”

“There is nothing they can do to me that I can’t handle,” Percival said in an effort to reassure him.

“Well, I can’t handle it!” Credence shot back defiantly. He tugged at his jacket again. “I love you.”

A barely noticeable flinch went through the former Auror and he was suddenly looking at Credence with a flicker of vulnerability in his dark eyes. 

At first Credence was mesmerized by the sight; the faintest touch of something fragile existing inside the closed- off man, but then he abruptly realized he’d never actually told him to his face before.  
Not in actual words.

They knew, both of them, how the other felt, it was in the little things, how they acted, their willingness to sacrifice for the other, but where Percival had stated it out in the open, boldly, Credence had only confessed it to him once while he was asleep and wouldn’t hear.

When was the last time anybody told Percival Graves, in actual words, ‘I love you’?

“I love you,” Credence repeated in a soft whisper, moving his hands up to gently urge him into an even softer kiss. “I love you,” he mumbled against Graves’ lips. “I love you.” And he kept repeating it until Percival’s mouth wouldn’t leave his long enough for him to form words.

When Graves eventually pulled away with an abrupt motion, stalked out of the room and left the door open for him to follow, Credence knew it was only to buy himself time to put his walls back up before Credence could look into his very soul. 

-

With nothing to do but wait, time seemed to slow down and barely move. 

The only positive thing that came out of it was how it allowed for a quiet evening where Theseus told stories from the time he’d spent with Percival in France. Credence still felt he knew so little about the man and Graves wasn’t very eager to talk about himself, making the talkative Theseus a brilliant source of information.

Graves, sitting at the opposite side of the room with his nose in a book, sent them a dry look when they laughed over the only time Theseus saw Percival angry; when a grenade went off near them and sent his laundry into the mud.

Credence was also amazed to hear that, according to Theseus, Percival Graves seemed allergic to any kind of relationship. The man had hoards of fans, but he ignored almost all of them and the very few who caught his attention for a little while weren’t even allowed to stay the night. (A quick glance towards Percival revealed the man demonstratively staring at his book, but Credence couldn’t help feeling ridiculously flattered and humbled.)

When Theseus brought out pictures of the two of them during the war, Credence couldn’t stare enough at them. He smiled a little at the fact that even though he was younger, there was more grey to his temples now, Percival Graves appeared every bit as beautiful, stern and closed-off back then.

The affection Theseus held for his old friend was also explained when he told Credence about when he’d been one of the victims during an influenza outbreak in their trenches and how Percival kept him alive through it. The fever, the pain, the fear, Graves got him through it all.

That was when Graves got up and declared that it was time to retire for the day. He seemed tense and uncomfortable so Credence readily agreed to it, but not without thanking Theseus for sharing the stories with him!

“You really shouldn’t pay attention to what that Scamander tells you,” Percival muttered as they entered their room. “The man talks more than a room filled with chickens. He doesn’t need more encouragement in that department.”

Credence laughed a little. “Since you barely tell me anything about yourself, he’s my only source of information!” He sent him a devious look. “And don’t worry; I already knew how seriously you take your laundry.”

Snorting, Graves raised an eyebrow. “What I should be worrying about, it seems, is how you’re turning into such a little brat.” He then gave a faint smile. “Aside from Scamander, there’s nothing much I like to remember about that time. War is not something pleasant, Credence.”

Suddenly serious, Credence could understand that sentiment, but still… “So you’ve never talked about it…?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Graves said as he turned away to unbutton his vest. “What happened back then happened. Nothing is going to change that. It’s better to just leave it alone.”

Credence wondered if he’d discovered the reason why Percival Graves rarely slept more than 4-5 hours, sometimes less, at night. Just how many horrors were locked up inside his mind?

[](https://ibb.co/nBHf3v)

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pictures shamelessly borrowed from the movies Hart's War and Enemy At The Gates. Clothing is wrong for WW1, but you get the general idea! :P


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a duel!

The next day included more waiting.

Credence had just hassled Graves into teaching him some card games when Theseus entered the room, holding up a letter.  
“What?” Percival asked. 

Credence felt tension coil up tight in his stomach, fearing it was the Ministry demanding they’d be jailed or deported to the MACUSA.

“It’s Nadder,” Theseus said. “He’s been spotted near Dover. They think he’s still there, that he’s going to make a run for France. I have to go.”

Credence glanced over at Percival, his fear turning into a strange excitement and the Obscurus stirred inside him. He was surprised to find the former Auror relaxed and uninterested. 

“Happy hunting,” Percival replied. “Feel free to zap him a couple of times from me.” He turned his attention back to the cards. 

“I will bring him your compliments,” Theseus promised and then he was gone.

Credence was still staring at Graves. Nadder had been found and they were not going to do anything about it? What about the revenge Percival had talked about? That man needed to pay! He was about to ask when Graves lifted his head and glanced over to where Theseus had been. 

Seeing that Theseus was indeed gone, Graves got up. “We’d better hurry.”

“I’m ready,” Credence got up as well, eager to introduce Nadder to the Obscurus. “Do you think we can get there first?”

“Yes.” Graves sounded so secure that it sent a thrill down Credence’s spine. “Do you have your wand?”

“Do I need it?” Credence felt the Obscurus swirling just under his skin, scenting blood on the wind.

“Can’t hurt to bring it.” Percival waited for him to dart back to the room, pick up the wand and return to his side.  
Credence didn’t hesitate when Graves reached out his hand. His grip was warm and firm and they disapparated to finally have their vengeance on the man who’d hurt them both.

.

By the time they arrived in Dover, the fighting had already begun. Down by the waterfront, a group of Grindelwald’s followers were under siege by Theseus and his crew. Spells and curses were flying and a huge shield had been set up to protect the surroundings.

“He’s down there?” Credence asked from the small hilltop he and Graves were looking down from.

Percival shook his head thoughtfully, scouting the outer area. “No.”

“No?” Credence blinked confused. “But if he’s not there, then where…?”

“Someone like Nadder won’t be where the fighting is,” Percival mumbled, still scouting. “He’ll be nearby, using the distraction as a cover for where he’s really heading…”  
And, finally, he spotted the shapes of two people making their way up a hillside leading to the white cliffs of Dover.  
“There!” Graves took a hold of Credence’s arm, not waiting for him to see them as well, merely disapparated to apparate on the path in front of the duo.

An unfamiliar wizard started violently at the sudden appearance of Graves and Credence, but Percival only had eyes for Nadder. The last time he’d seen him, he’d been hovering over him and blasting Graves with one painful spell after another until he passed out.

Nadder himself paled at the sight of him, but he still gave a manic chuckle. “Sorry, I don’t have time for you today, Mr. Graves!” He gave his companion a light push. “Deal with them, won’t you?”

Credence drew his wand and deflected the spell the unknown man threw towards Percival. He was a little surprised at his own success, so Graves had to pull him aside to keep him from being hit by the retaliation and Nadder dodged around them to flee further up the path.   
Credence shot off a couple of spells of his own towards the unknown wizard and had a moment of triumph when one of them hit and the man crumbled, but Percival merely grabbed a hold of him and disapparated them to appear on top of the cliffs.

When Nadder came to the top and saw them there, he hesitated, glancing back at the fighting going on by the shore, but eventually he pulled out his wand and started a slow walk towards them. “I guess I’m not getting out of this one, huh?”

“Keep them out,” Graves told Credence, not waiting for a reply, and walked towards Nadder. He smiled a little as he heard the Obscurus roaring to life behind him and the black mass began to circle both him and Nadder in a huge loop, creating a barrier of dark magic.

Nadder glanced at the Obscurus for a few seconds, admiring it. “Handy boy you got yourself there. No wonder Grindelwald had such a hard-on for him.” He waved his wand, grinning his way into a battle stance. “Something tells me you should have let him do your fighting for you. I can tell you’re still recovering and you don’t have your wand anymore, do you?”

Percival clenched his jaw hard. “I don’t need anyone fighting my battles for me.”

“Don’t worry,” Nadder said, “I’ll look after him when you’re dead.” He lifted the wand and sent one of his lightning spells straight for him.

Percival Graves lifted a hand and, with an easy movement with his wrist, flicked the spell away.

-

Nadder blinked surprised, then did it again. Graves flicked it away once more.  
The former Auror began to walk closer, easily deflecting the spells left and right. Nadder began to step away, continuing to throw more spells, but had to stop when his back was almost against the cold wall of the Obscurus. 

Graves halted as well, eyeing his prey, and held out his hand. Nadder’s jacket fluttered and Graves’ wand went flying out of the inner pocket to return to the hand it belonged.

“Now,” Percival said, testing the weight and smoothness of his beloved ebony wand, “let’s duel.”

Nadder swallowed hard. He hesitated and then the smirk was back. “No extra tricks? No sneak attack from the Obscurus? Just you and me, a duel.”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do it,” Nadder declared, getting into a fighting position again.

Graves drew a slow breath and took up a fighting position as well. He waited, allowed the other man to take his time, plan his move, dream about what he’d do after his victory, and when Nadder attacked; Percival deflected and finally unleashed his fury.

Spell after spell, Graves shot it at Nadder, savoring every scream and every twitch as he failed to deflect. The man thought he knew how to inflict pain? Graves showed him how wrong he was.

Even when the man eventually collapsed under the constant barrage, singed by a fire curse and convulsing from one of the powerful lightning spells, Percival still kept hitting him with magic as he walked over to him. In the end, he stood right over the agonized Nadder and continued lashing out spell after spell after spell with big swings of his arm, as if using a whip at the helpless man.

Around them, the Obscurus roared in its frenzied state, swirling and crackling with energy.

Percival sent a final shot at Nadder, watched how he arched off the ground, barely able to scream and coughing blood, and slowly lowered his wand with a look of contempt.  
He knew the Obscurus’ presence must have attracted the others by now and Graves tried to calm his breathing. “That’s enough, Credence.”

“What?” The young man materialized inside the Obscurus and walked over to him, leaving the darkness up to continue shielding them. “That’s NOT enough! He doesn’t deserve to live!”

“That’s not your call to make,” Percival stated tersely. As if he wasn’t tempted to kill the man enough already… His knuckles were white from his fierce grip on his wand.

“If you don’t have the guts to kill that bastard, move over!” Credence stepped towards Nadder. His ghostly eyes filled with fury. “I’ll tear his fucking throat out!”

Graves placed himself firmly between Credence and the unconscious Nadder, glaring at the younger man. “No.”

The Obscurus spiked and swirled even faster. Credence glared back at him. “Get out of my way or I’ll move you!” They both knew how easily Credence could use his powers to ‘make’ Graves move. 

Percival’s eyes narrowed and suddenly he spoke in a dangerously soft voice. “Talk to me like that again, and I am leaving.”

They both knew he didn’t mean just the area, but Credence himself. 

Flinching backwards as if he’d been struck, Credence went white with shock and the Obscurus vanished in a mute explosion of sand-like texture. He didn’t even seem to notice Theseus and the minor army of wizards who stood outside the former barrier, all of them pale and horrified.

Still glaring at Credence, Graves made sure to keep his voice calm and emotionless. “Go back to the apartment, Credence. Wait for me there. Go.”

Credence gave a faint nod, his eyes were filled with fear and his lips trembled with unspoken apologies. 

When the young man disapparated, Percival turned to face Theseus and the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 17 will be the final chapter of Redemption, a short one, but it will be made up by a pretty long-ish epilogue in chapter 18. For those interested, the story of the mysterious Ben will follow shortly!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is the aftermath of the fight and a choice to be made...!

Credence was pacing around in the apartment, wringing his hands and heaving for air.

Why would Percival say something like that? Why would he threaten to leave him? No, that had not been a threat; that had been a promise.

He was on the verge of… something when Percival Graves finally apparated in the room. Credence froze and stared wide-eyed at him, seeing none of the anger he’d witnessed earlier and just a heavy weariness in his eyes. “Percival…”  
Shaking his head, Graves lifted a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet. Credence nodded.

“You can’t become like that, Credence,” Percival said, watching him with an odd kind of sadness. “Not you.” He sighed and then walked over to stand in front of Credence. “You’re angry, I get that, but you can’t turn into me. I need you to be you.” He gave a tired smile, reaching out to gently push a lock of Credence’s hair behind his ear. “Your kindness, your innocence… Without that, you could never have forgiven me for how I betrayed you back in New York.”

Credence trembled. “That was different…”

“No, it wasn’t. I did something unforgivable, but you forgave me anyway, Credence.” Percival trailed his fingers along Credence’s cheekbone. “Mary Lou spent most of your life trying to make you into a monster. She failed. Don’t let Grindelwald succeed in her stead.” 

Reaching up, Credence took a trying hold of Graves’ jacket and when he wasn’t pushed away; he tightened his grip and moved closer. He felt almost dizzy with guilt and fear. “I’m so sorry… I just, he hurt you so bad… He would have killed you…”

Percival wrapped his arms around Credence and pulled him into a tight hug. “I know. I understand.” He pressed his lips to the unruly black hair. “But we needed him alive. Theseus needs every bargaining chip we can give him. Killing him would only show the Obscurus as the killing machine they fear, instead of the miracle that you are. Nadder is not worth that.”

Credence trembled even harder. “I’m just sick of them interfering with us.”

Nodding, Graves buried his face to Credence’s neck for a moment and the younger man wrapped his arms around him as well. “Get angry, get even, but don’t let it control you. My hands are already tainted, I’ll do what needs to be done, but you got to remind me that kindness is not always a weakness. Can you do that for me?”

The memory of his urge to maim and tear Nadder apart suddenly seemed distasteful to Credence now and he understood just how close he’d come to succumb to the Obscurus’ darkness. All that power combined with his anger, it was too easy to unleash it and ignore the consequences.

“I promise,” Credence whispered. “I’ll remind you.”  
He’d barely lost any sleep over the two wizards he’d killed in that alley where he’d found Percival. He still didn’t regret it, but surely it shouldn’t be easy to take a life? Was that the kind of man he wanted to be? A killer without remorse? No. There was enough cruelty in the world. He could be strong without being cruel!

“And thank you,” Credence closed his eyes and hugged Graves even tighter, “for reminding me.”

-

It was late when Theseus finally returned to the apartment.

Percival was sitting on the sofa in the living room and Credence was asleep by his side, resting his head in Graves’ lap. He watched the older Scamander brother enter the room, absently drawing a soothing hand through Credence’s hair. “So, how did it go?”

Theseus sighed and sank down into a chair opposite of the sofa. “Well, Nadder would have gotten away if not for you two, so they couldn’t deny that you spared them the embarrassment of having to alert the French Ministry to be on the lookout.” 

Graves had a moment of uncharacteristic uncertainty, biting at his lower lip, before glancing over at his friend. “I’m sorry for just showing up like that. I couldn’t tell you because you would have stopped us, and Nadder was mine. I owed him and I had to repay that debt.”

Nodding, Theseus seemed more disappointed than angry and strangely enough; that hurt more.

Theseus then sighed and shifted his focus to the sleeping young man by Graves’ side. “They’re asking me, so I’m asking you. Be honest, Percival, tell me the truth; can you control him? The Ministry sees how he can be a great advantage to them, but they’re also aware of how much damage he can do if he can’t be controlled. He’s got several American Aurors on his conscience; can you guarantee that won’t happen here?”

“I can guarantee he won’t harm anyone,” Graves didn’t hesitate. He merely drew his fingers through Credence’s hair again, “as long as they don’t try to harm him.” 

“Or you,” Theseus said, no sign of his usual cheerful demeanor.

“Or me,” Graves agreed. “But he’s not some kind of dangerous creature, Theseus. He survived all those years, alone and abused, carrying the Obscurus inside him, and he yet spends his time and money helping other kids. He over-eats ice cream, not plotting for world domination. Credence is the most powerful Obscurial who has ever existed, his powers are beyond anything I’ve seen before, but that does not make him evil by default. Hell, he’s kinder than the both of us, combined.”

Theseus nodded, still uneasy. “His powers made an impression in Dover. The Ministry is tempted, I can tell you that. They would love to brag about taming the Obscurial the MACUSA failed to contain.”

Not surprised by the petty politics, Percival still knew there was more to come. “So what’s the problem?”

“You,” Theseus replied, clearly deciding to merely jump into it. “They don’t know if they can trust you.” He shrugged. “Even I can’t explain why you suddenly decided to team up with Grindelwald.”

Tensing up, Graves went silent for a little while. When he finally glanced up, Theseus was still looking at him, waiting for him to explain. 

Had it been anybody else, Percival would have told them where to shove their questions, but this was Theseus and he owed him. “I was… tired,” Graves struggled to put it into words. “Every day, I was mopping up trouble from the laws which require us to hide from the No-Majs. Almost every day I saw wizards getting the shorter straw because we had to appease the No-Majs. I’d gotten pretty numb about it, just doing my job, doing it well, but then… he showed up.”

“Grindelwald.”

Graves nodded. “And everything changed. I went from numb to angry and he convinced me that I could change things. For a while, I believed him but then I saw his true colors. He’s dangerous and if your Ministry thinks they can hold him, they better be damn well prepared. He’s not done.”

-

Credence woke up to the feeling of Graves lifting him up from the sofa. He didn’t bother opening his eyes, merely wrapped his arms around Percival’s neck in a slow, sleepy move and rested his head on his shoulder. “W’t time issit…?”

“Late,” Percival replied, carrying him out of the living room. “Sleep.”

Nuzzling his face against the warm shirt, Credence made a humming sound. He was only faintly aware of them moving; secure in the feeling of Graves’ strong arms, one behind his back, and the other under his knees. “How’d go?”

There was the sound of a door opening. “I think they are warming up to you.” The door closed behind them again and Percival walked over to lower him onto something soft. Their bed.

Cracking an eye open as the other man tried to free himself from his arms, Credence held on for a little while longer before relenting with a sleepy smile. “S’nice.” He watched as the former Auror removed Credence’s shoes. “They’re gonna let us stay here…?”

“Possibly,” Graves answered a little absently. He pulled off Credence’s socks as well, bundled them up and placed them on the chair next to the bed, before moving up to start unbuttoning Credence’s shirt. There was a thoughtful frown on his face.

Credence placed his hand over both of Graves’, making him glance up at him. “What’s wrong?”

Percival hesitated, then shook off Credence’s hand and continued unbuttoning the shirt. “Nothing is wrong. Go back to sleep.”

Now fully awake, Credence felt a flicker of unease. “Percival, please… What’s wrong?”

Having finished unbuttoning the shirt, Graves sat down next to him on the bed. He pushed the fabric aside and trailed his fingertips along a scar across Credence’s pale stomach. “Do you want to stay here, Credence?”

Now confused as well as uneasy, Credence noted that the other man would not meet his eyes. He kept his gaze firmly on what his fingers were doing. “What do you mean?”

“If not for Nadder and Grindelwald, we would have left England and been somewhere in France by now,” Percival finally glanced his way, “We never even talked about staying here. Is this what you want?”

Credence drew a quick breath to answer, to tell him that it didn’t matter as long as they were together, when something made him pause. After realizing he’d never told Percival he loved him, Credence also became aware of how it was always Percival who asked him what he wanted. 

“Well, I’m okay either way.” Credence tried for nonchalant, “What do you want?”

Graves blinked, clearly not prepared for that, but he quickly recovered and regained his neutral expression. “Staying here would provide us with some security against the MACUSA, though I doubt they would bother actively hunting us in Europe. With Grindelwald and Nadder locked up, the real threat level is reduced significantly, but here you wouldn’t have to train in secret and you could probably learn magic at a much faster pace with multiple teachers.”

Credence smiled a little and reached out to take a hold of his hand. “Yeah, but what do **you** want?”

Frowning, Graves looked down at their hands. He hesitated again, clearly debating with himself whether to continue his neutral line or actually speak his mind.

Credence gave his hand a light and encouraging squeeze.

Finally Percival looked up at him again. “I want to see the pyramids.”

Unable to keep himself from smiling, Credence nodded. “Then let’s go see the pyramids.” He wasn’t sure why he was surprised that Percival knew about his wish to see the pyramids, but it made him happy. “I always wanted to see the pyramids.”

“I know,” Graves said, “but are you sure? You could probably advance a lot faster here.”

“I’m sure,” Credence sat up to steal a kiss. “Let’s go.”

So they did.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter about their final days of freedom...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final (and short) chapter of Redemption. A longer epilogue will follow to make up for it! ^_^

Percival told Theseus the very next morning. Surprised, and even a little hurt, the older Scamander brother still wished them luck and told them to stay in touch. 

Credence was surprised to see the amount of feelings in Graves’ eyes when he said his goodbye to Theseus and realized with a slightly jealous lurch in his stomach that if Percival Graves had been capable of it at the time when they met during the war; he would have fallen in love with him.

When night fell, Graves and Credence left England.

They travelled through France, where Graves made sure Credence got drunk on expensive wine again and ended up having to bite his own hand so hard he bled to keep quiet when Credence decided with drunken logic that it would be a good idea to go down on him in a closet during their visit at the vineyard.

Travelling through Italy resulted in Credence getting sunburned for the first time in his life, running around shirtless at a private mansion they rented by the sea, and once again over-eating ice cream until he got nauseous. He didn’t even get angry when Percival laughed at him. Heading towards south-Italy, they spent hours in their sleeping car on the train, doing nothing but slow and lazy kisses.

Greece was tough on Graves. It was the one place where it finally got too hot for him to wear his usual layer of fancy clothes. He was pleased nonetheless when Credence stumbled over nothing and went face down into the sandy beach the first morning he came out and found Percival maintaining his tan without the help of magic, or a single piece of clothing to create tan lines.

They also practiced magic, played with the Obscurus and discovered Credence could pick him up and carry him over big distances. As a method of travelling, Graves knew of worse ways, even if people tended to panic when a black cloud of doom thundered by them. (He did insist on Credence continuing to practice making decent turns when in Obscurus-form after they nearly knocked down an ancient ruin…) And it was practical to cross oceans that way, as Graves hated boats.

When they finally reached Egypt, both were unfashionably tanned and Graves made Credence stretch his Obscurus to its fullest power when they were in the middle of the desert. It was a sight that utterly terrified and mesmerized him. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and the awe on his face made Credence laugh with delight and tug him down on the sand. (Percival told him it would be a bad idea, but Credence wouldn’t listen and Percival had to show him why. Sand really did creep in everywhere!)

They stood before the impressive pyramids and marveled at their beauty, and later that night, when Percival felt Credence burrow into his embrace after they had curled up in bed at the expensive hotel, he had to ask; “What now?”

Credence placed soft kisses to his chest and began trailing them down his stomach. “Now we keep going.”

So they did.

They explored new food and drinks. They spent time at some of the most beautiful places in the world. They admired works of art from ancient times. They explored each other’s bodies and found there was constantly more to learn. They went to fancy balls and hilarious theatres. They did it all. They were, Graves realized with a stab of fear, happy.

Nothing good ever lasts and all things must come to an end.

This end came when they had spent some time in Switzerland and Percival had been struggling to teach Credence how to ski, preferably without killing himself or innocent bystanders.

-

Credence had just stomped off the snow on his boots in the hallway of the cabin they were renting and was trying to free himself from the heavy layer of clothing as he walked into the living room area.

Predictably he found Percival Graves by the fireplace, but this time he wasn’t reading one of his books. He was holding a letter and by his side was a tired-looking owl. His facial expression as he read told Credence it was not good news.

Shedding his heavy jacket, Credence gathered his courage. “What’s wrong?”

Percival didn’t look up from his letter, merely tossed over a newspaper lying by his side.

Credence caught it and straightened it to read the headline; GRINDELWALD ESCAPES.

It felt like the floor disappeared under his feet. He had to focus to be able to read what stood underneath the headline, about the escape and how they had no idea on his current whereabouts. When he finally lifted his gaze, Graves did the same.  
“It’s from Tina.” He glanced over and there was a tension to his jaw. “A bunch of his fanatics launched an attack on the prison. It was a big fight.”

Unease developed into fear and Credence took a step closer. “Are they okay?”

“Theseus got hurt.” 

Graves would seem unaffected to most people, but Credence could read the anger and concern in him and he felt the same. He walked over to place a sympathetic hand on Percival’s shoulder. “How bad?”

“They don’t know yet,” was the cryptic answer. Graves closed the letter and put it aside to stare into the fire place. “Tina is asking for help.”

Kneeling down next to him, Credence squeezed his knee to gain his attention. “I’ll pack our stuff, okay?”

Percival turned his attention back to him and reached out to draw his fingers through Credence’s hair with a tired sigh. “Are you sure you want to go back? We’ll be walking into the crossfire again and the Obscurus is either considered a prize to steal or something to be feared. You could stay here and I’ll come back to you once it is over.”

Leaning back, Credence shook his head. “That’s not an option. Don’t you even try, not for one single second; to convince me that Grindelwald won’t be targeting you as much as me. He wants you dead, Percival. I need to be there to make sure that doesn’t happen. Also, Theseus might be your friend, but he helped me when I had no one else. I owe him too. We’re in this together. Neither of us will be safe until Gellert Grindelwald is stopped.”

Graves nodded with a mixture of sadness and relief. “So we’re heading back to England then…”

So they did.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue!

_Percival Graves was just finishing his report when the door to his office creaked open._

_Glancing up, he was a little surprised that someone dared to interrupt him, but found no one there despite the door being opened.  
Graves leaned back in his expensive leather chair, frowning._

_Suddenly, there was the clattering sound of something multi-legged skittering across the floor and before he could do anything about it; a big, ghostly scorpion climbed up on his desk. It came to a halt at the top center of his desk and while he raised a curious eyebrow, it jabbed its stinger in the desk._

_From the embedded stinger, a silvery stream began to curl across the desk. Percival watched as words began to form and there was the faintest tug of a smile at the corner of his mouth when he could read it;  
Happy Two Year Anniversary!_

_Forcing himself neutral again, Graves glanced over at the door. “I do believe that is not the proper use of a Patronus, Mr. Barebone.”_

_The door opened further and Credence stuck his head in and grinned widely. “Are you going to report me to the Director?”_

_“I might,” Percival drawled, watching as the younger man came into the office and closed the door behind him. Had it really been two years since they escaped prison? (Credence insisted on counting the days from there, for some odd reason.) “Do you have your report?”_

_The ghostly scorpion disappeared in a soft vapor. (When Credence’s Patronus had shown itself in the shape of a scorpion, Graves had been astonished, but he seemed to be the only one surprised by it.)_

_“I’ll have the report ready tomorrow, Sir,” Credence purred, moving over to sit down at the corner of Graves’ desk. He leaned forward with a mischievous look in his feline eyes. “I’m sure there are more important things we could be doing.”_

_Percival felt a flicker of lust below his belt, but he remained passive. “No.”_

_Credence blinked and then gave a slow, disbelieving shake of his head. “You’re not serious?”_

_“I’m always serious; you should know that by now.” Graves glanced at his watch. “Our shift ends in thirty minutes. I suggest you get a move on, Mr. Barebone. I expect your report, without errors, before I leave this office today.”_

_Credence stared at him a little longer, clearly struggling to believe that Percival insisted on a report on a mission where the two of them had gone out to investigate some illegal magical herbs which had turned out to be dandelions, instead of indulging in carnal fun. When there was no change in his expression, Credence eventually hung his head with a groan, slid off the desk to get to his feet and shuffled out of the office._

_Rolling his shoulders, Percival got back to his own report and tried to focus.  
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on his door._

_-_

_“Enter.” Percival’s voice sounded as official and proper as ever. If Credence didn’t find it so ridiculously hot, he’d hate the sound of it._

_He entered and held out the damn report the man insisted on and waited while Graves read through it._

_It was hard to believe they were an ingrained part of the British Ministry of Magic now. When they had returned to England after learning that Grindelwald was on the loose again, they had not been sure what to expect. The Ministry had not been pleased with them running off in the middle of the night during their previous visit, but with Theseus out of the game and several other high ranking Aurors injured, they feared Grindelwald would exploit the situation and accepted, somewhat reluctantly, the aid of Percival Graves and his Obscurial. The MACUSA was NOT happy!_

_The only upside was that during the jailbreak, Grindelwald had decided to leave Nadder behind and he was still locked up in the mental hospital. Since the duel, the man had lost any pretence of acting like anything but a savage beast but there were also whispers of the cruelty of Percival Graves._

_Now, a little under a year later, they were still there. Predictably; Graves took on a leading role, while Credence began his Auror training from scratch and the two had risen through the ranks at a steady pace since. (Credence knew it galled Percival to no end that he had to work his way up again, even though he’d been second in command in the MACUSA, but he never complained.)_

_Theseus had been hurt badly. For a while they feared he wouldn’t make it and Percival would be by his side as often as he could, until the day came when Theseus opened his eyes again. They were all so relieved! Newt even invited Percival to his and Tina’s wedding, not just Credence. (He had accepted on his behalf before Graves could decline.)_

_The only time Credence had felt a flicker of fear was when someone made a remark about something, Credence didn’t quite catch it, and the visiting Queenie had turned her attention to Graves. She got a pained look on her face and automatically reached out a comforting hand. “Oh, honey…”_

_Within a split second, Graves had a hard grip on her wrist and was in her face with a furious look on his own. “Stay out of my head,” he snarled, his words heavy with an unspoken threat of harm._

_It was over as fast as it happened, but Credence never forgot about it._

_Back in the present, Percival put the report down on his desk with a sigh. He seemed to consider whether to deem it good enough or not, but Credence knew he’d done his report more than good enough to suit the eternal perfectionist and merely waited until he got the approving nod. Finally!  
He dared to take a step closer, raising his eyebrows suggestively._

_“You know,” Percival said, leaning back in his chair again, wearing a smug look, “technically, we’re still on the clock. For another ten minutes.”_

_Credence inched closer until he was standing in front of him and placed his hands on the man’s knees to kneel down between them. “You want to wait ten minutes?” He glanced up at him as he slid his hands up the inside of Percival’s thighs._

_Drawing a deep breath, Graves lifted a hand and shut the door to his office with a wave of two fingers. “No.”_

_Credence gave a triumphant smile._

_-_

_Ten minutes later, Percival lifted his face towards the ceiling and struggled hard to keep himself from groaning out loud.  
Dear Morgana, but the boy was getting too good at this!_

_By now Credence was far too aware of Percival’s likes and weaknesses for Graves’ taste and he found himself struggling to remain somewhat dignified during their trysts. He hated how Credence had to place his arms over Percival’s thighs to keep him grounded or he would buck up into the demanding mouth. He hated it almost as much as he loved it._

_His fingers dug into the armrests of his chair, not trusting himself to touch Credence’s hair when he was like this, and when the younger man gave a teasing suck at the head of his cock; Graves lost the battle against the need to moan out loud.  
He could feel Credence’s lips tighten on a smile._

_Those lips, that tongue, those hands and those feline eyes looking up at him, Percival could feel his release coil up tighter and tighter in his lower stomach. He panted softly, squirming in his seat and struggled against the instinctive urge to curl in on himself as his abdominal muscles were starting to contract in anticipation._

_His right leg jerked without his consent; the involuntary motion made Credence hum a laugh around him and the vibrations made Graves groan as if he was in pain. The objects on his desk began to rattle. Percival’s hands clenched the armrests even harder, his knuckles turning white, and a single lock of hair broke free to slide down by his face. So close…_

_All it took was an extra touch of that sly tongue and Graves was finally pushed over the edge. He bit down hard on the sound wanting to escape from his lips, shaking and shuddering through the ecstasy that was pulled out of him until he had no more to give and suddenly his body remembered it needed to breathe!_

_Slumping back in his chair, gasping for air, Graves closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself. He felt Credence making him presentable again, could almost feel the smugness radiating from him, but he was too wrung out to care. He panted softly and allowed the endorphins to soothe him._

_Once he felt in control again, Percival opened his eyes and found Credence still kneeling in front of him, a smile on his too pretty lips and there was black smoke floating around him on the floor.  
“Happy two year anniversary,” Credence said, happy and content despite how he was wound up tight from arousal._

_Percival snorted a laugh, raising his eyebrows. “When I told you we weren’t going to do this stupid anniversary thing, you weren’t listening at all, were you? And if this is how you think you’re going to persuade me into this idiotic tradition, you are absolutely right.”_

_Credence’s smile widened, clearly not surprised. “I got us a table reserved at your favorite restaurant.”_

_Graves sat up and took his face between his hands. “Mmmh. Sex and food. Fine, you win. This time. But you damn well better make it worth my time.”_

_Credence’s smile turned positively radiant, repeating: “Happy two year anniversary!”_

_Rolling his eyes, Percival got up, pulling him up as well, and gave him a soft kiss. “Happy.” Another kiss. “Two.” Another kiss. “Year.” Fourth kiss. “Anniversary.” A final kiss, and then he abruptly released him and stalked over to get his coat. “We might as well warn Theseus on our way out that there will be multiple earth quakes in London tonight.”_

_He pretended not to see the how Credence’s smile turned wicked and how he flushed slightly with embarrassment at the same time. The sight was just too enticing and Percival Graves had a reputation to consider, after all._

_-_

_When the door to Percival Graves’ office opened, the Aurors glanced over with barely hidden curiosity.  
There was still so much mystery surrounding Percival Graves, the American Auror. His office was the most warded room of the entire building and the only one besides him who could enter and leave from it as he wished was the Obscurial. It was strange that such a stern and paranoid man would choose to place his trust in a creature of a kind that was renowned for its tendency to lose control and lash out._

_Still, few doubted their determination to catch Gellert Grindelwald. They had proven themselves in battles against Grindelwald’s fanatics. And even now, when there was no trace of Grindelwald himself, they still remained and hunted for every piece of information that could lead to his capture._

_A rumor went around that Grindelwald had a personal vendetta against the two and that was why they were so set on capturing him, but most of the Aurors were just pleased to have more people on the job. It would be stupid to refuse the help from one of the strongest wizards in America and his creature. Especially when they were approved by Theseus Scamander himself!_

_The Obscurial had not been in many battles, Graves forbade it, but he had been in a couple and none of them would ever forget the sight of the black mass as it exploded into life. The only one not terrified of it was, of course, Graves, but it was hard to dislike the quiet and shy man it resided in. Also, there was something to be said about a guy who was able to influence Percival Graves._

_As the two left the office, the Aurors watched Percival Graves, looking as stern as ever, with his hand by the younger man’s elbow and when the Obscurial gave him a happy smile, something amazing happened; Graves smiled back!  
That was almost as impressive as the Obscurus itself!_

_With Theseus Scamander, Percival Graves, Credence Barebone and the rest of the British Aurors working together, Gellert Grindelwald didn’t stand a chance._

_It was only a matter of time…  
_

[](https://ibb.co/kXh6BF)   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of Redemption! I am sorry to see it end, to be honest, and it was tough to go from this to writing the story about Percival Graves' past with Ben! Once again, I must give a shout-out to Gentrychild for the amazing support and feedback which has spawned chaptes at a horrible pace! But I also want to thank Melamory, Persephone_in_love, Inzey, Truetomorrow, LtSaraDHarkness, AkihiroHowlett, obiwanjedi, and every single one who left a comment! I would name you all, but you know who you are and I have treasured every word! Every. Word! If not for you, I would have left this with Corruption, but now I'm on a roll and will continue spamming you with updates!  
> A word of warning tho; this next fic will be extremely dark, if that is not something you want to read, there will be one last installation after that one! The last one, I promise! Then I will leave your inboxes alone! ;) Hope to hear from you all again! <3


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